


Game Over, Press Start

by orphan_account



Series: Press Start to Play [1]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: BillDip, F/F, Human!Will Cipher, M/M, They are in highschool, This may not have a happy ending, any ideas are welcome, human!bill cipher, i havent really thought of an important plot, okay it actually has a plot now, rating and tittle may change and tags will be added, super smash bros, they're around the same age, this is slow af, this is the AU nobody asked for, this probably isnt the type of fic you expect- believe me, will&bill are twins too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-29
Updated: 2016-07-19
Packaged: 2018-05-29 23:37:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 44,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6398848
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mabel's social skills worked everywhere, even in the internet. She makes several friends, and decides to invite Dipper in a Skype chat in order to get him to know more people. </p><p>It doesn't go as planned.</p><p>But, something good may come out of it, too.</p><p>Her twin wishes she had warned him about the blonde, though.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> okay, mintcornetto here  
> first fanfic on archive of our own  
> (still dont really know how it works tho)
> 
> i'm presenting you the long distance gaming AU  
> (because not everyone lives in the same city or state)  
> aKa "the AU nobody asked for"

Dipper stared at the screen before him. His sister, Mabel, had told him she was going to send him an invitation on Skype so he could join a group chat. Apparently, some person Mabel met on Tumblr made this group chat, and, he wasn’t going to lie, he was excited to see just _what_ kind of friends Mabel had. She had said something about this other pair of twins (wow, the thought of meeting another pair of twins made him wonder if they had a similar relationship like the one he had with Mabel) and how they were so good at videogames. Mabel wasn’t home right now, having to do a project with a partner, but she had told him she’d manage to send him the invitation in the afternoon.

He really wanted to know if these friends could beat him and Mabel in any game at all.

As far as he knew, Pacifica, a rich girl that Mabel met and was friends with was there, Grenda and Candy too. She said something about Wendy and Robbie and about Gideon. Yeah, the weird kid. Mabel, the forgiving person she is, let him be her friend. Oh, and of course, the other pair of twins.

He heard the typical sound of a Skype notification, and even though he hated that annoying _ding!_ , he was relieved to see it. His sister had added him to a chat named “the bestest chat of all!!1!” and he inwardly groaned. His sister may be the creative twin, but she wasn’t good at naming anything, and he knew she had probably changed whatever tittle the chat had before. Clicking lazily on it, he was surprised to see the chat was full of messages. He decided to write a greeting.

[Dipper] hey

Before he could even blink, he was sent a response.

[shooting star] dIPPER!

[evil dorito] HI

[Floppy Disk] Hi, Dipper.

He blinked at the screen. Twice. He supposed Mabel was “shooting star” because of her favorite sweater, but the other two? “evil dorito”, he wasn’t sure what do think about that name. At least “Floppy Disk” had the decency to greet him and use caps.

[Dipper] uh mabel who are these?

[llama] omg shooting star look at this dress

Below the message “llama” sent, there was a picture of a beautiful pink dress that sparkled. Huh, it seemed to fit his sister’s personality.

[shooting star] OMG

[shooting star] *SQUEAK*

[shooting star] PLS TELL ME WHERE 2 FIND IT

Dipper chuckled fondly at the messages. _Of course_ she’d be excited about it. 

[llama] im gonna send u a msg k?

He ignored the following messages about the pink dress and decided to check these people’s profiles. Not that he was stalking them or anything, no! He just wanted to know who they were. He entered “evil dorito”’s profile first. The first thing he saw was the profile pic. The illuminati symbol. _Okay…_ He started reading…

**evil dorito**  
_let’s get illuminaughty_

He groaned. Really?

Below, there were the usual options to call or to message.

 **Skype Name** evildorito_3

Okay, at least one thing in the profile could be deemed half-normal.

 **Gender** Male

Now he knew “evil dorito” was definitely a he.

**Birthdate**

No information on birthdate…? This guy could be 30 years old or even 10 and nobody would know.

**Homepage**

Dipper wasn’t surprised there was no homepage. He heard several ding! noises but ignored them.

 **Country** United States

He really felt he was stalking the poor guy now. More ding! noises.

**State/Province**

**City**

No information on the state and city either…

 **Language** English

Knowing this was useless, he paid attention to the notifications, and clicked on them.

[evil dorito] Pine Tree

[evil dorito] Pine Tree

[evil dorito] PINE TREE

[shooting star] bro bro r u alive

[Floppy Disk] Poor guy

[evil dorito] PINE TREEEEEE

[shooting star] sir dippin dotsssssss

[evil dorito] PIIIINEEEEEE TREEEEEEEE

[shooting star] bro brooooooooooooooooo

[evil dorito] PIIIIIINNEEEE TREEEEEEEEEEEEEE

He stared at the screen. So he got a nickname? Not even knowing the guy for a minute and he was now Pine Tree. Great.

[Dipper] what

[shooting star] idk

Oh my gosh really-

[shooting star] oh wait

[shooting star] remember the other twins I told u about?

Oh yeah, he remembered. If he at least got to meet the twins then it’d be worth it.

[Dipper] yeah

[evil dorito] hiWHY HELLO THERE

Did this guy had something for him or what? This “evil dorito” seemed to be battling himself at what to say.

[Dipper] uhhhh ehy

Oh gosh, darn typos-

[shooting star] both twins r in the same account 4 now dont worry

Oh. _Ohhhhhh._ The twins were sharing the account. It kinda made sense for him. He could already imagine him fighting with Mabel for the control of a laptop. He realized he didn’t know anyone’s name yet, and decided to go for it.

[Dipper] so mind tellin me who r these people

[evil dorito] my name IM BILL iss

[evil dorito] sorryNOT SORRY

[evil dorito] help

Dipper chuckled. It _was_ funny, and he supposed the one writing in all caps was Bill. The other twin, he was not so sure…?

[evil dorito] OKAY I GOT IT

[evil dorito] THE NAMES BILL, KID

The messages confirmed his thoughts.

[Dipper] if ur twins, then whats the name of the other

[evil dorito] OH PINE TREE, IM FLATTERED

[evil dorito] YOU DO CARE ABOUT ME

[evil dorito] Im Will

[evil dorito] Help

[evil dorito] Please

Will was tackled to the floor by his twin (traitor) and the laptop was thrown to the bed, both twins raced each other to see who grabs it first.

[Dipper] …

[Dipper] what?

[Floppy Disk] Don’t worry, it’s usually like this

[Dipper] they usually share the username?

[Floppy Disk] No, they usually fight

[llama] yah, their only sharing the account til wills laptop is fixed

Dipper didn’t even bother to correct the grammar mistake.

[Dipper] …why r they sharing it then?

[evil dorito] it was Billlllllllllllllll

[evil dorito] he threw it off the windowNO I DIDNT

[evil dorito] DONT BELIEVE HIM

[llama] wait

[llama] u threw it off the window?!?

Dipper almost fell to the floor laughing. 

[evil dorito] yesNO

[llama] y?

[evil dorito] i’m not sure 

[Floppy Disk] Bill is a bad brother

[evil dorito] i kno

[evil dorito] IM NOT

Bill took the laptop away from his brother again, and quickly typed.

[evil dorito] STOP LYING

Will tried to reach it with his arms, but Bill quickly shifted his position so that the laptop was away from Will’s reach. The weaker twin pouted.

[shooting star] oh

[shooting star] r we gonna do a ssb4 tournament by teams or nah

[evil dorito] SURE, SHOOTING STAR

“Bill! What are they saying?”

“Shooting Star asked if we were gonna do the tournament or not,” Bill paused. “I already told her yes.”

“Oh, okay.”

[shooting star] k. u already know im team with sir dippinsauce

[evil dorito] YEAH, AND IM WITH WILL

[Floppy Disk] Then we’ll do the other teams random

[llama] anyways when r we doing the tournament

[shooting star] tomorrow?

[evil dorito] tomorrow isTOMORROW SOUNDS NICE

[Candy&Grenda] hey guys!

[shooting star] HIIIIII!

[shooting star] read the msgs pls! the ssb4 tournament is tomorrow btw

[shooting star] tell the others!

[Candy&Grenda] we will!

[evil dorito] SO, PINE TREE. DO YOUR PARENTS HATE YOU OR WHY THE NAME?

[Dipper] did u just insult me

[Dipper] u… u jerk

[evil dorito] I WAS JUST KIDDING

[evil dorito] PLS DONT HATE ME

[Dipper] -.-

[evil dorito] ;-;

[Dipper] '-'

[evil dorito] (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧

[Dipper] 0.0

[evil dorito] ~(-_-)~

[Dipper] ಠ_ಠ

[evil dorito] ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

[Dipper] ◉_◉

[evil dorito] ☜(˚▽˚)☞

[Dipper] ¬¬ 

[evil dorito] (⌐■_■)

[Dipper] =_=

[evil dorito] :3

[Dipper] ._.

[evil dorito] (─‿‿─)

[Dipper] ('_')

[evil dorito] 8)

[Dipper] (- -;

[evil dorito] (◕‿◕✿)

[Dipper] (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻

[evil dorito] ( ͡°╭͜ʖ╮͡° )

[Dipper] ╚(•⌂•)╝

[evil dorito] (づ｡◕‿‿◕｡)づ

[Dipper] ↁ_ↁ

[evil dorito] ≧◡≦

[Dipper] ●︿●

[evil dorito] @(ᵕ.ᵕ)@

[evil dorito] (^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^wwwwww^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^)

[Dipper] wait what is that

[evil dorito] HA I WIN

[Dipper] uh yeah sure

[Candy&Grenda] we ship it

Dipper’s eyes widened in realization as he remembered that yes, there are more people in the chat.

[shooting star] YES

[Floppy Disk] Should I start planning the wedding?

[llama] already on it

[shooting star] wait guys 

[shooting star] we need a ship name

[llama] evil dip?

[shooting star] bipper?

[Candy&Grenda] diprito?

[llama] how many tiers 4 the cake? type of flowers?

[Dipper] WE ARE NOT GETTING MARRIED

[Floppy Disk] Billdip?

[shooting star] YEAH 

[shooting star] BILLDIP SOUNDS GOOD

[Floppy Disk] I’m off to buy the wedding presents

[llama] i like bipper better

[Candy&Grenda] where will the wedding be

[shooting star] WE SHOULD DO IT IN THE MANSION

[Dipper] guys plz

Dipper glared at the computer again. He couldn’t believe it! And Bill wasn’t doing anything. He decided to send him a private message.

[Dipper] havent u realized theyre shipping us?!?

[evil dorito] YEAH, BUT THEYVE GONE TOO FAR NOW. THERES NO STOPPING THEM.

Well, that was true.

[evil dorito] SO, BUT WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

[Dipper] piedmont, California. and u?

[evil dorito] IN OREGON.

[Dipper] thats nice

[Dipper] y do u write in all caps anyway?

[evil dorito] I THINK IN ALL CAPS

[Dipper] we’ve got weird friends havent we?

[evil dorito] YEAH. I REMEMBER THIS ONE TIME WHEN WILL AND I WHERE IN L.A. AND WE WENT SEARCHING FOR A MATTRESS STORE, BUT WE WERE HOLDING THE MAP UPSIDE DOWN AND WE ENDED UP IN SAN DIEGO.

Oh my gosh. _Oh my gosh_.

[Dipper] r u serious?!

[evil dorito] YEAH, WE HAD TO CALL FLOPPY DISK TO GET BACK.

[Dipper] btw how did will’s laptop break?

[evil dorito] I THREW IT OFF THE WINDOW.

[Dipper] y?!

[evil dorito] HE MADE ME PLAY A GAME. THERE WAS A SCREAMER. I THREW IT AT HIM BUT HE DODGED. IT CRASHED THROUGH THE WINDOW AND FELL TO THE YARD.

This time, Dipper did fall off the chair laughing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> any comments/kudos/tips/reviews/feedback in general are appreciated! <3  
> thanks for reading ;v;
> 
> edit: omg this hasnt been out for long and it already has kudos -thanks again ;v;  
> just wanted to say i dont really have an updating schedule or anything like that but i'll try to update every week//
> 
> edit 2: OMG WHY DO YOU LIKE THIS SO MUCH EWNOGANGKE  
> okay, i'm gonna get writing the next chapters  
> btw, if you want the gang to also play an extra game of your choice, tell me! i'm always happy to read whatever you write ;v;


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dipper has a friendly match with Bill.
> 
> Their wedding is still being planned.
> 
> Which bread do you prefer?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm starting to think whether to leave short cryptograms as clues as to what is going to happen  
> not sure if i should tho  
> but a thing is certain, i'll leave a small summary of each chapter
> 
> btw sorry if any character seems ooc  
> but this is an au and things happened differently, so they'll also have different reactions
> 
> anyways lets get to the chapter

_Ugh_. Dipper sat up on his bed and yawned. He didn’t get to sleep much, he stayed up talking to Bill until late. He stretched and walked to his bathroom in order to get ready for the day.

He took a shower and brushed his teeth, and went down the stairs of his home. Mabel was already eating breakfast, so he just told her “good morning” and grabbed an apple and a package of Oreo cookies (the last time he cooked, he almost set the kitchen in fire).

After he returned, he saw that Bill was online. He was about to send a message, then realized there were many notifications from the other chat. However, as he saw it was just the planning for the wedding (somehow Gideon also joined), he skipped them. While reading, he ate his "breakfast".

[Floppy Disk] I have realized I never introduced myself to Dipper.

[Floppy Disk] Tad's the name and being normal's my game.

[Candy&Grenda] his name’s tad strange but he is ironically the most normal of us

[evil dorito] YEAH, HE IS JUST A TAD STRANGE

[shooting star] omg did u just

[evil dorito] YES

[llama] bill no

[evil dorito] BILL YES

Slightly annoyed by the pun, he opened the private chat with Bill, and started a conversation.

[Dipper] hey

_Great way to greet someone, Dipper._

[evil dorito] HELLO, PINE TREE!

[evil dorito] SHOOTING STAR’S SSB4 TOURNAMENT STARTS LATER, DO YOU WANNA PRACTICE?

_Thank God Bill isn’t as socially awkward as he is._

[Dipper] sure!

[evil dorito] WHAT’S YOUR USERNAME?

[Dipper] dipperpines

[evil dorito] …

[evil dorito] YOU HAVE NO IMAGINATION

[Dipper] shut up

He patiently waited for any sort of invitation to be Bill’s friend. He kinda expected Bill’s username to be “ _theilluminati666_ ” or something like that, but it turned out his name was simply “nightmare_realm” (which was _still_ kinda creepy). He accepted it and immediately started the game. He decided to check the chat for any messages (he was curious who was going to be a team with who).

Dipper saw the name of the chat had changed. Oh well. It was now named “THE CIPHER WHEEL”. Weird yet amusing at the same time. He scrolled down the new messages (ignoring all of Gideon’s, of course) until he found what he was looking for.

[shooting star] okay the teams will be like this

[shooting star] me and bro bro

[shooting star] bill and will

[shooting star] the next ones were random k

[shooting star] paz and robbie

[shooting star] tad and candy

[shooting star] soos and grenda

[shooting star] wendy and gideon

[llama] k

[llama] wait soos?

[Lil’ Gideon ✡] okaaay!! at what time????

At the Northwest mansion, Pacifica huffed after realizing she had been completely ignored.

[shooting star] dunno, everyone has free time at 5?

Ah, the best thing about summer vacations. Having free time. After everyone voiced ( _typed_?) their agreements, Dipper clicked on his conversation with Bill.

[Dipper] rdy to get ur ass kicked?

[evil dorito] I SHOULD BE ASKING YOU THAT

After the screens loaded (was it him or with every update it charged slower than the last?) he finally entered a match with Bill. He didn’t know what character to choose (he was just determined to kick Bill’s ass with any character) so he left it in the random slot and waited. Bill chose Zelda (?) for some reason unknown to Dipper, so he asked.

[Dipper] y zelda?

[evil dorito] SHE REPRESENTS A TRIANGLE

_...Fair enough._

[evil dorito] LETS BATTLE IN THE HYRULE TEMPLE

Okay, the Hyrule Temple was huge, especially if they were going to be just two people, but Dipper showed no signs of complaint.

The random character was… Greninja. Okay, Greninja was fast and had cool moves. Yeah, completely fine. The best thing about the pokemon was the water attack that impulsed you to go up, it helped if you were falling.

[Dipper] k

3

2

1

GO!

Looking at Bill’s movements, Dipper wondered if Bill was actually trying or if he was just smashing the (poor) controller. Bill was running everywhere and tried to attack him from different angles, while Dipper was searching the perfect opportunity to attack. A random pokeball appeared near Bill and of course he was quick to use it.

Now Bill had a Deoxys. _Lucky asshole_. Everytime Dipper used a pokeball, the tiny bird would appear. He never even bothered to learn its name. It was like a curse. A damn pokemon curse. Maybe Mabel had (somehow) hacked the game so he would always get the same pokemon over and over again.

The good thing was that the legendary pokemon’s attacks weren’t that difficult to dodge. It was just an energy beam, and it didn't even move.

He kept attacking Bill, and Bill kept attacking him, until Bill managed to KO him. How.

Bill was about to laugh, then remembered that no, Zelda does not have a grappling hook like Link. _Oops._

He fell, and was KO too.

Dipper would’ve laughed at his enemy’s death, but he was too immersed in the fact that if he did not KO Bill soon, the both of them were going to Sudden Death. 

Bill looked through his options. He could run from Pine Tree and send them both to Sudden Death (he always managed to be killed by Bob-ombs for some reason and he was not going to loose like that to Pine Tree) or he could keep attacking him and hopefully KO him. Oh well, he’d keep trying to kick Pine Tree in the face. Little did his Pine Tree knew, that he was just smashing buttons and had chosen Zelda because no, he was not going to show him his actual technique. Besides, it was fun.

Pine Tree seemed to know what he was doing, though.

Bill tried to attack him from behind, Pine Tree was already protecting himself.

Bill teleported, Pine Tree charged an attack to hit him when he appeared.

Bill charged his own attack, Pine Tree attacked him.

...

Dipper didn’t know what to do.

Bill moved too much, attacked too much, and Dipper needed to create his little bubble shield every five seconds because Bill wasn’t getting tired of throwing attacks.

Good think they had chosen a time match, or else they’d probably be there forever.

The screen changed to the Sudden Death, and they both held in their breaths. Finally.

Nobody moved.

…

Dipper was the first one to try to attack, then Bill. Just as they were about to see who was going to be KO’d, a small Bob-omb appeared…

It exploded on them both.

Bill was out first.

Dipper won.

Bill sent out a quick "congratulations on the win" to Dipper by Skype.

…

Bill threw the Wii U (being careful, he did not want to have to buy another) and slid to the floor dramatically. He had underestimated Pine Tree, but it was a mistake he’d never do again. And maybe he should warn Will about it too, but it wouldn’t be fun if he did, would it? He grabbed his laptop (he had to hide it from Will) from under the couch and searched any new notifications on Skype. But of course he had new notifications, most of them from THE CIPHER WHEEL. He chuckled at the name.

[shooting star] guys they’re even playing togetherrr

[llama] theyre meant to be together <3

[Candy&Grenda] we ship it <3

Okay so maybe looking through them was a bad idea. He placed the laptop back and left the room, unaware that another pair of eyes similar to his own had been watching. And unaware that the pair of eyes inmediatedly took the laptop.

Will looked through the messages and smiled. This was fun.

[shooting star] when's the weddingg

[Floppy Disk] I already bought the presents

[Dipper] STOP

[llama] i hope u like golden flowers

[llama] cuz thatll be the theme for the wedding

[Dipper] OH.MY.GOSH.

[shooting star] bro broo we r gonna find a nice tux later k???

[llama] make sure the tie is yelloww!

[Floppy Disk] How about Bill's tuxedo tie is blue?

[Candy&Grenda] how many people are we inviting?

[shooting star] OMG

[shooting star] I TOTALLY HAVE 2 SHOW BILL THE PHOTOS OF BRO BRO IN HIS LAMB COSTUME

Dipper's blood ran cold.

[Dipper] mABEL DONT YOU DAREEE

Dipper ran towards his sister's room (they slept in separate rooms since they were fourteen years old, but sleepovers between the two were still frequent) and found her on her bed. He inmediatedly took the phone away, and thanks to his higher height, he managed to keep it. Mabel tried reaching it with her hands, laughing while doing so.

"Dipper! Give it back!"

"No!"

 

The older yet smaller twin jumped and took her phone back, only to have Dipper snatching it again. He quickly searched through his sister's gallery while keeping her away from it ("DIPPER! DON'T DO IT!") and found the picture. He deleted it, and gave it back. Mabel pouted.

[shooting star] bro bro is no fun ):

[Dipper] shut up, mabel

[llama] aw i bet bill is pretty disappointed now

[Floppy Disk] I think Bill dressed as a flower once

[Candy&Grenda] omg search a pic

[Floppy Disk] Later

Will, the "good" brother he was, stepped in.

[evil dorito] since we're here to embarras our brothers

Everyone instantly knew it was Will because of the lack of capitalized letters.

[evil dorito] then i'm going to tell you that one day

[evil dorito] bill was going to scare me, he had a mask

[evil dorito] so he stands outside the door of my room

[evil dorito] but i open it too wide

[evil dorito] and it hits him in the face

[evil dorito] ...

[evil dorito] he fell down the stairs

Dipper burst out laughing.

[shooting star] omg

[llama] im dead

Dipper heard a loud noise and laughter coming from Mabel's room and just as he was going to check what happened, he saw a new message.

[shooting star] i fell of my bed laughing omg

Oh, so that was the noise. He snorted, but his smile gave his true emotions away.

[Floppy Disk] Serves him right

[Candy&Grenda] LMAO

[Lil’ Gideon ✡] Oh my gosh!!!

[evil dorito] he never tried to scare me again after that

Dipper headed downstairs, deciding he had laughed too much and that his aching ribs were proof, and watched the introduction of Ducktective (damn, that duck was smart, but it was probably easier for it to find clues since it was closer to the floor). He didn't even get to watch the whole episode when he heard Mabel shouting at him from upstairs.

"DIPPER! What kind of bread do you like most?!"

Dipper stared blankly at the wall, then (hesitantly) shouted back.

"BAGELS!"

"OKAY! DIPPER, CHECK SKYPE!"

He lazily stood up and ran upstairs to his room. He sat down on his desk and opened his laptop, and watched true _chaos_ going on.

[shooting star] DIPPER PREFERS BAGELS

[llama] WAFFLES ARE THE BEST

[Floppy Disk] All bread is fine

[Lil’ Gideon ✡] Baguettes are waaay better!!

[evil dorito] Bill and I say toast

[Candy&Grenda] BISCUITS AND BREADSTICKS

[llama] how can u like biscuits they dont even have a flavor

[Candy&Grenda] HOW DARE U

[Floppy Disk] Ladies, ladies

[Floppy Disk] Calm down

What.

[Dipper] what r u talking about

[shooting star] DIPPER

[shooting star] TELL THESE PEOPLE THAT GLITTERED PANCAKES ARE BETTER

[Candy&Grenda] LEMME TELL U BISCUITS ARE AWESOME

[Dipper] plz stop

[Floppy Disk] Yeah, let's stop! We haven't even thought about the wedding cake's flavors!

Dipper's face fell to his desk while he groaned, thinking about a hundred ways to kill Tad without anyone noticing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i cant believe you  
> 46 kudos and several comments  
> 226 hits (thats my birthday actually, february 26, coincidence?!? i think not)  
> so im going to say thanks again ;v;
> 
> i've decided i'm going to do the chapters at least a thousand words long and update frecuently, kay?//


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Entire chapter in Bill's POV
> 
> The two "lovebirds" get to see each other's faces.
> 
> Bill annoying Tad because he can

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> well, i said i'd make short chapters (of at least a thousand words)  
> but i'd update frecuently
> 
> so here's the new chapter .3.

Bill grabbed a bottle of water and sat down next to his brother (who was laughing at something on Skype) in the couch, and grabbed the TV remote to turn the TV on.

"Bill, Shooting Star is asking us if we want to do a Skype call," Will told him. "You get to see Dipper."

Purposefully ignoring the last statement, Bill nodded and grabbed his laptop back (Will kept looking at the screen though), searching through the messages. Most were about his "wedding" (the cake was going to have three tiers and be chocolate flavored apparently) and Pine Tree complaining, but a few were about the small tournament. 

[shooting star] will r u and ur brother doing the skype call?

Bill also ignored the fact that the message was directed at Will and typed out a response. He looked at himself, he was wearing a yellow hoodie (that matched Will's, but his twin's hoodie was blue) and black sweatpants. Probably not the best outfit for a first impression, but _oh well_ , it's okay.

[evil dorito] YES

[shooting star] k

[shooting star] but remember skype calls suck

Oh yeah, last time he had talked through a Skype call with Floppy Disk (he had been too lazy to cross the street and talk to him on person), the images would freeze, or the audio would be unintelligible and they had to reconnect several times. Of course, Bill blamed it to the Swedish community who had developed Skype (and partially to Will's cat who had been nimbling on the internet cables).

[evil dorito] VIDEO CALL OR NORMAL CALL?

[llama] lets do a video call so bill gets to meet dipper

[shooting star] right

[Dipper] y r u doing this to me

[llama] y not

[shooting star] dont worry we were going to a videocall anyway

Bill chuckled at the messages, but when he was called, agreed nonetheless.

He was met with several screens.

The first one was obviously Floppy Disk, who was eating toast (?) and was on his couch saying hello to everyone. He got a good look at his friend and neighbor's house and noticed it was the same since the last time he visited (there was still that sticker of a fat puppy on his cushion, courtesy of Bill himself).

The next one was of a blonde girl with blue eyes, Llama, sitting in a fancy couch with fancy tables, wearing fancy clothes, with fancy wallpapers and fancy decorations, and eating a (probably) fancy apple.

The third screen was the star of the show, the little white-haired ventriloquist dummy who was just sitting there and waving enthusiastically at everyone.

The fourth screen was Shooting Star in her shooting star sweater and she was on her bedroom. The korean girl wearing glasses and the tomboy (whom Bill was scared of, but he wouldn't admit it) were there too and were talking to each other, probably something about that novel (what was the name again? wolfman bare chest?). They greeted the other ones. Deciding it wasn't important at all right now, he looked at the next screen.

A boy looking almost the same as Shooting Star (except with boy-ish features, so Bill decided he was a male version of Shooting Star) was paying attention to his Wii U and absentmindedly greeted everyone. Inmediatedly knowing who he was, Bill slightly shook his head reminding himself that he was not going to be some kind of stalker and look at Pine Tree at all times. But _oh boy_ did he look good in that outfit he was wearing- Bill shook his head again.

Question Mark wearing his signature question mark shirt was in what Bill thought was his bedroom, with the Wii U in hand, waving at Shooting Star and Pine Tree mostly.

The last screen was of Redhead and Stitched Heart, both whispering something to each other.

He grinned at the screen when he realized Pine Tree was looking at him.

"So, I'm going to do the matches random, okay?" Shooting Star asked, holding a dice. "Each team choose a number from 1 to 6."

"WE WANT 6!" Bill grabbed Will's wrist and held it up, inmediatedly shouting. Will stood there with a small, confused smile staring at the wall. (Pine Tree added " bill chooses the number six above others" to his mental list of "Weird Stuff Bill does")

Pine Tree chuckled slightly, and held up two fingers.

"Okay," Shooting Star saw that Pine Tree was showing a sign of peace and love, holding two fingers up. "Me and bro bro will choose 2."

"I want number 1," the ventriloquist dummy said, looking at his team for confirmation who showed him a thumbs up. Shooting Star nodded.

"We'll have number 5," Floppy Disk spoke for his team. The korean girl didn't seem to mind the number, and nodded.

"Four," was all Llama said. Stitched Heart didn't complain in fear of waking up her wrath.

"Okay, Soos and Grenda will have number 3," Shooting Star informed.

Everyone stayed quiet, wanting to know who will go against who. She threw the dice on her bed, and it bounced several times before it settled on the number four. She grabbed it and threw it again, this time showing the number one.

"First match is Paz and Robbie versus Gideon and Wendy," she paused, and repeated the procces. This time, the numbers showed five and five again, so (slightly annoyed) she threw the dice once more. It showed the number two. "Next match is Tad and Candy versus me and Dipper. And the third match will be Soos and Grenda versus Bill and Will."

Bill looked at his brother, who gave him a slightly confident smile, and he grinned in return.

"Okay," Shooting Star looked at everyone. "Let's start!"

-.

It had been stated by Shooting Star that on the first three matches, everyone had three stocks.

 _Clever girl_ , Bill thought. Now you can't KO someone and just run away during the rest of the time of the match. 

She had said that the winners of the three matches would choose a person who'd go on the second round, and the teams of whoever won first and second place would go to the third round, It was slightly confusing, but it was the only thing they could do since they were only six teams in total.

Llama, whose username was "northwestqueen", chose Lucina and changed her appearance until her costume and hair were yellow. Stitched Heart prefered Bowser (Bill thought about how the character reflected his personality). The ventriloquist dummy chose Jigglypuff (not surprising at all) and Redhead chose Samus. Bill decided not to question their choices of characters and simply watched.

"Let's choose a random stage," Redhead told them, and inmediatedly chose the Random option.

They were going to fight in the Luigi's Mansion stage.

Bill remembered how Will usually pauses the game and tells him to look at the portraits which _were_ kind of creepy. 

The first thing that happened was that the ventriloquist dummy charged an attack, the one that made Jigglypuff roll really fast. Llama soon noticed and jumped before he could attack her. 

Jigglypuff rolled all the way down.

Ventriloquist dummy had two stocks left.

Redhead groaned, on anger or disappointment. _Or both._

It didn't take long for Stitched Heart to KO Redhead either. While Bowser was slow, he did have good moves.

Llama was KO'd too, and Redhead avenged herself.

Shooting Star was internally cheering for Llama, but she wasn't going to tell that to anyone. Pine Tree was staring at the screens, and probably silently cheering for Redhead.

Bill had stopped watching a minute ago, running to Floppy Disk's house (and leaving Will behind) to annoy him. He intended to crash through the window, but last time he did so, he got scolded by Floppy Disk and had to stand in a corner for an hour and a half (Floppy Disk would've made him stand there for a longer time if Will had not rescued him). He knocked loudly on the door three times before letting himself in and shouting "HONEY! I'M HOME!", to which Floppy Disk shouted back "THIS ISN'T DIPPER'S HOUSE, BILL!". The blonde teen inmediatedly blushed, and thanked whatever deity listening that nobody noticed, too engrossed in the match.

Bill decided to have his revenge on the exact moment Floppy Disk stood up, and searched the house for marbles. Finding a bag full of them, he placed them all around the house, careful to not make noise. He grinned and ran back to his house, closing the door behind him (because last time he didn't do so, Floppy Disk entered his house shouting and forced him to stand in a corner for fifteen minutes while scolding him; Floppy Disk had a thing for scolding everyone, _he'd be a good mother_ , Bill thought).

Will was sitting in the floor now, and he had grabbed a blanket for himself. He was staring at the laptop in front of him without moving (and it kinda scared Bill but he was not going to say that) until he saw his twin from the corner of his eye. 

"Stitched Heart and Redhead are the only ones left, with a stock each one," he updated Bill, who nodded in reply.

"Who do you think is gonna win?"

"Probably Stitched Heart. Look." He moved so Bill could sit at his side and see the fight.

Stitched Heart's KO property was 87%, while Redhead's was 128%.

A well-timed attack by Stitched Heart KO'd Redhead's character, making his team the winner.

Everyone erupted in cheers.

"WOOOO!" Shooting Star looked like she had just won an Oscar.

"OH MY GOSH!" The other two girls were fan-girling. 

"Hey, congrats!" While Pine Tree's voice wasn't so loud, he still was heard by Stitched Heart and Llama, both nodding.

Bill cheered, and so did Will but in a much lower voice.

Next match was Floppy Disk and Korean Girl vs Shooting Star and Pine Tree.

Bill grinned.

This was going to be interesting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omg  
> 428 hits and 75 kudos omg
> 
> you see, i have a deviantart account  
> and not too long ago i drew bill  
> and in this AU, he (usually) looks like that, so have the drawing .3.  
> http://mintcornetto.deviantart.com/art/Bill-598222999


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Next match for the tournament
> 
> Villager comes to town!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i headcannon dipper able to use any character in smash (and still win)  
> but he chooses the villager because his sister likes to pick one of the villager characters too
> 
> btw, check the notes at the end, it has an extra scene that takes place before this story because omg 95 kudos and 625 hits

Tad easily chose Megaman and Candy had an internal struggle, but opted for Princess Peach.

Dipper looked through his options. He could actually choose a character or leave it random. Oh well, it didn't matter. He chose the villager (his smile _still_ looked creepy) and Mabel selected him too, but she quickly changer the costume so she'd have the pink-haired villager instead (a bit creepy but not as much).

"YOU CAME TO THE WRONG VILLAGE MOTHERFU-!" Bill shouted as soon as the villager was picked.

"BILL NO," Tad interrupted him and glared daggers at him, upset by his friend's choice of words.

"I'LL HAVE YOU STUFFED AND STORED IN THE MUSEUM," Bill continued, completely tuning out Tad. "RIGHT NEXT TO YOUR BROTHER."

The girls giggled, except for Pacifica who _also_ glared daggers at Bill. Will stood there at his side, staring at nothing, Tad inmediatedly covered his face with his hand and Gideon looked neutral as ever. Wendy and Robbie had left a minute ago for popcorns and sodas, not knowing what was happening.

"Your balance is fifty billion bells," Mabel joined. "Just kidding, it's actually zero."

Bill caught up on what she was saying, and grinned at her.

"The number of minutes you have left to live is five," Bill then smiled, and with his hand, he moved his bangs so that they reassembled the villager's. "Just kidding, it's actually zero."

"MEGAMAN, I HEARD YOUR ARM CANNON ISN'T DETATCHABLE,"

"-NEWS FLASH: IT'S GOING TO BE!"

"First I'll sell my fruit, then your _soul_!"

"You can run, but you _can't_ hide!" 

"Remember that time he showed his enemies mercy? Me _neither_!"

"His lack of concern for the environment scares you, but wait until you see how little concern he has for his enemies!"

"Does that look like the face of mercy?" Mabel pointed at the villager's face.

"A human being in a mob," Bill started.

"What's a mob to a king?" Mabel quickly continued.

"What's a king to a god?"

"What's a god to a non-believer..."

"...who don't believe in anything?"

"Welcome to the Village of Death!"

"Population: _YOU_!"

"OKAY, OKAY. WE GET IT!" Dipper raised his hands in frustation, while Mabel and Bill virtually highfived.

"Aw, he's jealous of his sister!" Pacifica cooed. Wendy and Robbie returned, and when they heard the conversation, looked at each other in question and shrugged, returning to their previous activity of eating popcorn.

"Oh god..." He inmediatedly regretted complaining, and covered his face with his hands.

"Aw, don't be sad Dip-Dop! I won't steal you your boyfriend, slash, fiancé!"

"Why," Dipper mumbled.

"Okay, we'll leave you alone, let's start the match!" Mabel directed everyone's attention to the TV, and flashed a thumbs up to Dipper, who smiled in gratitude back. "What stage do you want?"

"Smashville!" Bill suggested.

Tad and Dipper shrugged, while Candy nodded, so Mabel picked it.

The match started.

Inmediatedly, Mabel and Candy started fighting. While Mabel would never, _ever_ harm a person in real life for no reason, the videogame world was _completely_ different for her.

"COME ON, CANDY, GIVE UP! YOU KNOW I'M THE QUEEN OF SMASH BROS!" Mabel yelled.

"NEVER!" Candy shouted back, even though they were in the same room and had no need to yell.

Meanwhile, Tad and Dipper were having a more civilized fight, in which neither of them seemed to be winning or loosing.

"Woah," Dipper said as he dodged another of Tad's attacks. "You're really good," he complimented.

"You too," Tad said dismissively as he prepared another attack. Dipper knew what was going on, however, and he used his shield.

A Smash Ball appeared, and suddenly everyone's attention was on it. The Pines twins had their own strategy, Dipper would let his sister grab it while he kept the other's from using it. It usually worked, and they had both chosen the villager character, so it'd be the same.

The Smash Ball floated away from the stage, and Mabel flyed to get there (so did Candy), and just as she grabbed it, Candy popped the villager's balloons, rendering her unable to fly. Luckily, she managed to land on the platform and quickly used her Final Smash on Candy. The villager's Final Smash, Dream Home, was definitely... something. Tom, Timmy and Tommy Nook quickly gathered around and built a house on Candy's character. Tad and Dipper continued fighting on the other side of the platform, not really caring about it but stealing quick glances to check if Candy had been KO'd or not. There was a small, nonessential difference in the house that had just been built and the houses on the actual game (besides the fact that Princess Peach had been trapped inside)... it exploded.

The princess was KO'd.

"Way to go, dude!" Soos praised Mabel.

Mabel temporaly cheered as she waited for her opponent to appear once more.

A small Bob-omb appeared and Tad quickly grabbed it, throwing it at Dipper, but since they were close together, it exploded on both of them, KO'ing them.

"OOOOH," Grenda ooh'ed.

"Woah, this match sure is an _explosive_ experience," Bill joked, and Dipper and Tad groaned. 

"Yeah, I'm having a _blast_ ," Mabel retorted and Bill chuckled while Will glared at him.

"Why..." Dipper cried, but as soon as his and Tad's characters appeared, focused on the game once more, previous complaints forgotten.

Gideon was cheering on both teams (but cheering way more to Mabel, just like Pacifica), and Robbie and Wendy were just looking at the match and making faces everytime something interesting happened.

Candy managed to KO Mabel, and Tad and Dipper were both on 80% of damage.

Candy fell off the scenario, Mabel made sure she couldn't get up again.

At least she tried not to fall.

Dipper used a pokeball, the little bird appeared and he huffed in frustration when he heard Mabel giggling at her brother's bad luck.

Oh well, he'd find a way to break the curse later, and hopefully get an interesting pokemon next time. 

Tad's character charged a missile and KO'd Dipper.

Dang it, now he only had one live left. _Well_ , he decided, _I'll make sure not to waste it_.

However, as soon as he finished that statement, he saw Mabel's character running towards Megaman, and fast.

Mabel KO'd Tad. _For Dipper_ , she thought. Nobody messed with her brother in a videogame and managed to live.

_Revenge is served best cold_ , Dipper thought. 

...

Dipper had one stock left, but so did Tad and Candy.

Mabel had two stocks still.

The Pines Twins were winning.

...

Mabel KO'd Candy (who had been too busy trying not to die but was KO'd anyways), and she inmediatedly went to aid Dipper in his battle, who kept shielding himself since Tad was desperately attacking him with all his might.

Tad realized that yes, he was going to loose.

Between the two, Tad was KO'd, making the Pines twins winners.

"WOOOOH!" Mabel cheered, and ran to her brother's bedroom to higfive him (Dipper rubbed his aching hand, _dang_ , Mabel highfived _hard_ ).

Candy pouted in defeat and Tad was simply blinking at the screen. _Oh well, I'll just ask Bill to avenge me_ , he thought.

Bill grinned and shouted a congratulations, and Will felicitated the other twins in a much lower voice (he didn't understand how Bill could talk _so much_ and never complain about an aching throat).

Soos praised everyone for their hard work ("Good job, dudes!"), and Pacifica gushed at Mabel's victory ("I KNEW YOU WERE GOING TO WIN!"). Robbie looked as neutral as possible, Wendy laughed and told the twins they were awesome at videogames, and Gideon enthusiastically (would he ever not be happy?) cheered for the winners.

Dipper inmediatedly sighed. He had thought he was going to loose to Tad and that Mabel would have to fight against him alone. That wouldn't have been good at all, he did _not_ want to be embarrassed again.

"So, who's next?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here's the extra stuff i told ya about (it might be mentioned or referenced to later):
> 
> [shooting star] one time i had to go to the hospital for eating scratch nd sniff stickers
> 
> [evil dorito] Bill isn't allowed in the kitchen or to use knives since we were like 6 years old
> 
> [evil dorito] because everyone is worried that he will anihilate the entire population of USA
> 
> [evil dorito] or that he will burn the house down
> 
> [llama] i've got lost in my mansion several times
> 
> [llama] had to call a butler to help me find my bedroom
> 
> [shooting star] my brother has zero social skills
> 
> [shooting star] one time a girl complimented his eyes and he told her "on average 14 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily"
> 
> [shooting star] he blamed it on lack of sleep
> 
> [Floppy Disk] Bill got lost in Walmart
> 
> [Floppy Disk] You know the speakers where they announce things, right?
> 
> [Floppy Disk] Like, ten minutes after he got lost, we heard him shouting our names in the speaker
> 
> [evil dorito] that happened like two weeks ago
> 
> [Candy&Grenda] one time Candy forgot how many eyes a face has
> 
> [shooting star] one time i called a teacher mOM BY ACCIDENT
> 
> [shooting star] HE TOLD ME TO SHUT UP AND EAT MY VEGETABLES
> 
> [evil dorito] bill called the 911 once because i ate the last cookie


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bill & Will versus Soos & Grenda
> 
> Zelda puns
> 
> Flashback at the end of the chapter
> 
>  
> 
> _loi etdziu dlv ijxz epl clzvn vtiyxk xjmb hkreu_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, at the end of this chapter there's a small flashback  
> they'll be explaining more stuff that will be important for later, kay?  
> starting next week, i cant promise that i'll update every day, but i'll try//
> 
> btw omfg 111 kudos and 786 hits ;v;  
> thankchu so much -3-//

"So, who's next?" Dipper asked, even though he knew the answer. It'd be fun to watch Will and Bill against Soos and Grenda, especially since Soos wasn't _that_ good and Grenda probably had no idea about the game.

"Oh yeah," Mabel remembered and stopped cheering. "Next match: Bill and Will versus Soos and Grenda!" She announced, and passed the controller to her tomboy-ish friend, who gladly accepted it.

"Ready to kick some ass?" Bill asked his twin, who nodded and grabbed a controller of his own.

Dipper wondered what were they going to do, and if they were as good as he and his sister at SSB4. _Probably not_ , he thought. He and his sister weren't the king and queen of SSB4 for no reason.

Grenda chose the Wii Fit Trainer, while Soos settled with Mario.

Will and Bill picked Ganondorf and Link, respectively (Bill would never understand how Will could choose _that thing_ ).

Tad saw a glimmer of something sparkling in Bill's eyes, just like when he was about to do a pun- _oh god, please no_.

Bill was about to burst laughing. "I would say a Zelda pun but I don't want to," he placed a hand in his mouth to muffle his laughter. " _Tri and force_ it!" He finished.

Tad facepalmed.

Mabel and Soos laughed.

The rest groaned.

"Okay dudes, what stage do you want?" Soos asked his team and his opponents after everyone stopped complaining about the pun.

"Bridge of Eldin!" Bill was quick to answer. Soos nodded and selected the stage.

The match started, and Bill inmediatedly started attacking Soos without a pattern. Attack, attack, attack, jump, shield for a second, attack, shield for 4 seconds, attack, attack, attack, jump. 

Dipper looked at Bill through the video call. He saw how the blonde teen slighlty had his tongue out and how he concentrated on the screen, how he had to stop fighting for a second because his golden bangs got in the way. _He's cute_ , Dipper thought. Then his eyes widened and he shook his head, stopping that train of thought because no, he did _not_ have a crush on Bill.

Will, on the other hand, seemed to know what he was doing and how to do it. Grenda, being mostly an unexperienced and non-gamer girl, she tried her hardest to keep up with him, but it was difficult. Soon enough, she was KO'd.

"Ganondorf can't surf on the internet because there's too many _Links_ ," Bill somehow found time between dodging, jumping, shielding and attacking to make another pun out of all things. Tad and Dipper facepalmed, Mabel and Soos laughed once again and the rest groaned.

"Don't call it the Zelda franchise," Bill started again. "Call it the Zelda chain, 'cause it's got so many Links!" He got similar reactions.

"It's," he said once more, just as he saw a Bob-omb appear. "Dangerous to go alone," he grabbed the bomb. "TAKE THIS!" Bill threw it at Soos, and KO'd him. He silently hurray'ed himself as he waited for his opponent to return.

"Fuc-"

"BILL, THIS IS AT LEAST PG RATED!" Tad interrupted him, and Bill flinched (wait, what did he say...?).

"Screw," he emphasized the word while glaring at his friend. "THE POE-LICE!" (Wait, was that a reference to the Poe souls on Twilight Princess?)

He started to aimlessly attack Soos, and while most of his attacks failed, Soos couldn't run away easily.

"If Ganondorf was on the beach," he continued attacking and saw his brother had KO'd Grenda again. "He'd be _TANONDORF_!"

"Bill, stop; you're driving me _cucco_ ," Will smiled and turned to his brother, who looked about to cry tears of joy.

"I'm so proud of you right now," Bill started and smiled widely at his twin, but was KO'd by the _evil pig_ riding _another pig_ (the evil pig's name was King Bulblin, but how would he remember that name?) who tackled (?) him and scowled at the screen in his Wii U gamepad (he had fought for it against Will, who was using a Mario-themed Wii remote, guess who won). He shouldn't have had asked for that stage.

...

Grenda had only one stock left.

Soos and Bill (who was still scowling) had two.

Will still had three.

...

Dipper analyzed at Will's way of playing. His movements were slower, but difficult to dodge, and he just appeared to know what the other was going to do. It almost seemed like he was shielding himself because he _knew_ you were going to attack him before you even thought about it. It was creepy, but amazing regardless.

Bill's, however, seemed more makeshift, as he was constantly changing his own techniche. Attack from behind, shield for several seconds, jump and attack from behind again, then charge an attack, jump and attack again... It was random, and made it difficult to expect his next move (probably the reason his technique was that way).

...

Will looked at his character. Yeah, an ugly, eh, thing that was slow as a snail. But he _had_ to admit Ganondorf was powerful and difficult to KO. It was different from Link, who was faster and lighter, but those characteristics were what balanced his team. And he liked Ganondorf's Final Smash, too. Beast Ganon was powerful and difficult to dodge, and if you used that Final Smash at one corner of the stage, no one would be able to defend themselves. Definitely a useful attack. However, he'd rather use Toon Link (he was cute and also had good moves), but he figured he'd use it in the last match. _If we get there_ , he thought as he shielded himself again. It wasn't that difficult for him to figure out his contrincante's pattern while playing, and that gave him an advantage.

A last attack on his part, and Grenda was KO'd. He looked at his brother's character and...

...

Bill had 6% of damage.

But somehow Soos maganed to KO him. _How...?_

Bill blinked. Again. How.

Will exploded in laughter and paused the game. _Oh my gosh_. He looked around in his twin's laptop and everyone was laughing too (except for Soos, who has awkardly scratching the back of his neck).

"What the fuc-," he stopped before Tad corrected him. "What. the. heck. How. Why. What even." He blinked at the screen again.

"Oh my gosh," Mabel said between laughs. "Bill has the worst luck ever."

Dipper snorted. At least he doesn't get a Fletchling every time he uses a pokeball.

Bill threw his hands up in the air, huffed and walked away from everyone's sight. "I'm out."

Will covered his mouth to muffle his laughter and grabbed his brother's arm, "No, wait, I promise I won't laugh." He inmediatedly broke that promise when he saw Bill's face and started laughing again. 

Bill, defeated, sat down again and covered his face with his hands before letting a string of curses while mourning his lost dignity.

"Just un-pause the game, Will," he said as he grabbed the gamepad once more. His twin looked at Soos for confirmation, who nodded, and did as he was told. Inmediatedly, Will started attacking Soos, somewhat in an attempt to avenge his brother who was doing the same.

Between the two, Soos lost a stock in less than a minute.

A Smash Ball and a pokeball appeared at the same time. Will inmediatedly grabbed the pokeball (who had a snivy), but Soos took the Smash Ball with only two hits. Bill knew what would happen and inmediatedly moved out of the way (nope, he was not going to loose his last stock).

He inmediatedly used it, and KO'd Will.

However, his own KO property was 112%, and with a well-placed combo, Bill knocked him out.

Everyone cheered for the twin's victory. Candy didn't look sad or upset she had lost, and Soos congratulated the twins in their victory.

Bill climbed the couch, stood up, placed his hands in his waist, and asked his twin to turn on the fan and put it on his hair so he could do his "victory pose".

Candy and Grenda debated who would win the tournament.

Robbie inmediatedly told Pacifica that yes, he'd participate in the next match if that's what she wanted, trying to not be sued by her.

Dipper and Mabel argued about who'd be participating in the next match.

Tad laughed at Bill when he _fell off_ the couch.

Bill glared daggers at Tad as he rubbed his sore arm.

All in all, this was a good day.

-.

_Two similar babies, with different eye color each, cried as they heard the sounds of people shouting._

_"Well, I did tell you not to keep them, didn't I?" a male voice echoed through the walls of the small appartment. "Now you'll be responsible for them because I_ won't _."_

_A young girl, with beautiful red hair and dimmed yellow eyes shook as she watched her partner heading towards the door. She pleaded for him to stay, because the two kids would want their father, and she needed him, but he didn't hear. He didn't_ care _. He opened the door for what would be the last time he would see that so familiar face, and said one last thing,_

_"You will regret that you let them live and stain my name," he shut the door._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so, about what happened to bill... it was some kind of glitch that also happened to me xD  
> it was like, months ago, i was playing against my uncle, and i was using kirby i think, he was using ryu (or ike?), and he managed to KO me when i only had 6% of damage wtf. i had the video of the match recorded on the game, but with all these updates, you cant play those videos anymore, so...//
> 
> okay remember what mabel said in sock opera? her play was going to make people cry in laughter, from how tragic it is.  
> that's probably one of my goals.
> 
> fun fact: will and bill are rich too


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Second round: start!
> 
> Encouragment Wars
> 
> More flashbacks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> remember that time mabel said in sock opera that her play would make people cry with laughter from how tragic it is  
> it may or may not be one of my goals :'v  
> im not good at describing fights sorry
> 
> fun fact: i headcanon bill being older by ten minutes
> 
> btw, i dont know if starting tomorrow i'll update everyday, but i'll try//

The "Alpha" twin whispered something to her friends, who nodded back and gave her a small thumbs up.

"Okay, so for the next round of the tournament, each team will choose one player and each one will have two stocks," Mabel said as she eyed Dipper, as if telling him " _I dare you to say I'm not playing this round_ ".

"So, only one of us is playing," Bill said as he narrowed his eyes in thought.

"Yep," Mabel confirmed,.

"Robbie will represent my team," the Northwest girl said, and her team nodded frantically, still in fear of being sued by the blonde.

"Okay, if you excuse us, I'll have a small talk with Dip-Dop here," Mabel announced, and walked to her brother's room to persuade him to let her represent her team (and to make him look away from the TV). 

Back at the other pair of twin's house, their neighbor and childhood friend looked at the giant gate in desesperation. Every time he tried to enter, the new butler would always yell at him and threaten to call the police for some reason (he supposed he couldn't blame the poor guy, he was only doing his job which was keep people away from the mansion). While his house did have a butler too (his mom and dad weren't home at all times, but at least they cared enough about him to not leave him alone; sometimes Tad wondered if it was just because kids below 18 shouldn't be alone at home), he wasn't excessive when dealing with strangers.

"HEY! YOU! TAD IS ALLOWED TO COME IN!" Bill shouted from a window in the second floor, glaring at the butler (who inmediatedly apologized). Ever since the twins moved into the house, chaos was normal for everyone living there, and they were used to hear yelling or loud noises.

Tad smirked as the butler moved aside, letting him in.

Inside, he was greeted by Bill, who told him "follow me" as he turned around and started walking to the stairs. 

"So, Will is representing your team?"

"Yep. You disappoint me, Floppy Disk. I would have thought you'd win to Pine Tree."

Tad huffed and climbed up the stairs.

"Aw, looks like someone is mad," Bill coo'ed.

"Shut up, Bill."

Bill lead Tad along a hall, and stopped in front of a door

"Here," he said as he opened the door, revealing Will sitting in the couch, using the gamepad.

"We're pranking Pine Tree," was all Will said (without even looking at them).

"Ooh, and how are we pranking him?"

"Changing the settings."

"...okay, I'll ask Shooting Star."

Just as he entered a private chat with Mabel, Tad told him, "they changed the settings so pokeballs will appear more frecuently."

Bill grinned and closed the chat he had opened a second ago.

"WE ARE BACK!" Mabel announced as her face appeared on the video call. On Dipper's screen, everyone could see as he entered his bedroom and sat on his bed, nodding.

"Alright," she clasped her hands together. "Dipper'll be fighting in this match."

"Robbie will fight too," Pacifica chimed in.

"Will will fight," Bill grabbed his brother's wrist again and helded it high in the air. "And he _will_ win."

"We'll see about that," Mabel retorted.

Everyone chose their characters. Dipper settled with the same villager again (Tad placed a hand in Bill's mouth so he wouldn't start telling jokes again, but he was bit. " _BILL_!"). Will chose Kirby and Robbie selected Bowser again.

At Tad's suggestion, they'd fight in the Pokemon Stadium 2.

As soon as the match started, Dipper started attacking everyone merciless.

Robbie was having a hard time shielding himself and fighting back. Pacifica was huffing at him with her arms crossed.

Will (as always) knew _what_ to do and _when_.

The best part about Kirby was that if someone attacked you, you could just give them a taste of their own medicine.

And that's what he did when Bowser breathed fire (?) on him, he used Kirby's copy ability to burn Stitched Heart's character too. Stitched Heart scowled at the screen as if doing so would make his problems go away.

"You can do it, Dipper! Keep it up!" Mabel encouraged her twin.

"GO, WILL! SHOW THESE LOOSERS WHAT YOU'RE MADE OF!" Bill unconsciously started an encouragement war.

"YOU'RE THE BEST, DIPPER!" Dipper grabbed a pokeball that appeared there since no one else cared about it.

"COME ON, WILL! I'M COUNTING ON YOU!" Another _freaking_ fletchling. His eye twitched in anger or frustration, or both. He could have gotten a Magikarp and it would've been better (as long as it broke his curse)!

"GO DIP DOP! YOU PLAY BETTER THAN THEM!" 

"DON'T LET THESE PEOPLE GET YOU DOWN, WILL!"

"KICK THEIR ASSES, DIPPER!"

"MABEL, STOP! YOU'RE NOT LETTING ME CONCENTRATE!"

"...Oops! Sorry, bro-bro." Mabel grinned sheepishly.

Somehow, Dipper and Will did a combo; Dipper sent Bowser flying through the sky, and Will used one of Kirby's kicks to KO him.

Bill found himself oooh'ing, because, _heck_ , that was a _good_ combo.

Robbie looked at Dipper in an unspoken question, and Dipper nodded.

They teamed up against Will. Another pokeball appeared. Everyone avoided it again, Dipper grabbed it, and for what seemed the thousandth time, got another fletchling. _Why_. He groaned. Mabel giggled, she _did_ ask Candy and Grenda to change the settings to more pokeballs would appear.

Poor blue-eyed kid tried to defend himself but attack Bowser at the same time, confusing Dipper as to why does he keep attacking only Bowser. Little did he know, Will was trying to KO Robbie's character, because once his team was out of the game, the next round would begin. Besides, it wasn't that easy to attack Dipper.

Between both of the (cheaters) members of the temporal team, Will was soon left with one stock.

Bill clenched his teeth shut. _Come on Will, I know you can do it_ , he thought.

Everyone was almost biting their nails when, suddenly, Will KO'd Bowser.

The room cheered for the victory of the two pairs of twins who'd go to the next match.

Bill hugged his twin.

 

-.

_Two 4 year old boys ran around the small appartment, looking for their mom._

_"I bet she's in here," the golden-eyed twin told the other, and pointed at the bathroom door, which was closed._

_"B-but how do we enter?" the blue-eyed kid replied._

_His twin grinned and pulled a key from his pocket, making the other gasp in amazement._

_"Where d-did you find it?" he asked. His twin smiled and shrugged._

_The blue-eyed twin grabbed the key and tried using it just like their mom would, and unlocked the door._

_As he opened it, he soon saw those sleepy pills his mom used all scattered accross the floor. He looked at his twin in question who mirrored his look. The two entered the bathroom, and found their mom sleeping on the floor too._

_The golden-eyed child grabbed their mom by her shoulders, and shook her several times._

_She didn't wake up._

_"M-maybe she's just sleepy," the paler in skin twin said, tilting his head to the side._

_They remembered their mom had told them that if anything happened, they should inmediatedly tell their nice neighbor lady (who nowadays was too busy with her boyfriend/fiancé). Deciding to do what she said, they ran outside the appartment and knocked three times on their door. She answered, and asked, "What's wrong?" She looked if their mom was with them, but saw no one, and told them to come inside._

_"Mommy isn't waking up."_

_The young twins didn't understand why their neighbor looked sad._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahAHAHA imsuchabadperson  
> that flashback in the end,  
> does it answer anything or make more questions?  
> you'll have to wait for next chapter if you want answers  
> btw, who is gonna win??? ...well, you'll also have to wait :v


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Final match: Pines twins VS Cipher twins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay first of all  
> 139 kudos and 1074 hits omghefniwg  
> thankchu all ;v;
> 
> second of all, might not update as frecuently, but i'll try to _at least_ post two chapters in a week
> 
> third of all, bill&will moments here -3-

Bill cracked his knucles and neck with a smirk. Oh boy, he'd _enjoy_ this.

Will looked as neutral as ever.

Mabel smiled brightly at her brother. _We can do it, Dip Dop!_

Dipper returned her smile. _We'll win, Mabel!_

Pacifica typed encouraging words at Mabel. But so did Gideon.

Soos praised both teams for their hard work. 

Tad made himself comfortable in one of the two couches of the room. He furrowed his eyebrows in thought. _Darn, these couches are like sitting on clouds_. He'd make sure to ask Will later if he knew where the couches were bought, since Bill would most likely prank him if he ever asked.

Wendy smiled and gave Dipper a thumbs up. He gladly returned it.

Robbie looked at the side, bored. And maybe a bit disappointed at himself, but he wouldn't admit that.

Candy and Grenda were fangirling at some of the male characters, especially at Link, Robin and Ike. What, couldn't a girl obsess over boys?

"Ready," Bill said as he selected Link, "to get your ass kicked?" He quoted Dipper.

"I should be asking you that," Dipper quoted Bill, who looked at him and smirked. Dipper stared at those lips and wondered for a split second what would they feel like, before he shook his head. Nope. He was not having those thoughts again. He didn't have to pick any character, since he was going to use the villager for the final match.

"Ha, we'll see," he replied.

"Try not to glitch again, Bill," Tad warned him.

"Again?" Mabel questioned as she picked the pink-haired villager. "Has he glitched before?" She meant when he was KO'd at 6% of damage.

"One time we played Mario Kart, and we were in the Twisted Mansion," Tad paused, "and he went off the rail, and somehow, he managed to glitch his way into the floor and disappear." He laughed, the others (except for the Cipher twins) joined.

Bill sent him an unamused look. Will decided to simply change his character, and chose Toon Link.

"Oh my gosh, did that really happen?" Mabel asked once she stopped laughing.

"Yeah, and Tad re-played that part like fifty times," Bill answered, still unamused. _They call me the King of Glitches ever since, too._

"I wish I'd been there to see it too," Dipper chuckled.

"Well, what stage do you want?" Bill wondered, wanting to start the match already.

"Final Destination," Dipper said and picked out that said stage once Will and Mabel nodded.

"Remember, we only have one stock each. If you are KO'd, you're out," Mabel told the others.

_3_

_2_

_1_

_GO!_

Dipper shielded himself once Bill tried to attack him. He jumped and striked at Will when he tried to harm Mabel, and safely landed on one part of the stage. 

_He won't be safe for long_ , Bill thought as he assaulted his opponent. He shielded himself (he was kind of jealous that Yoshi was the only one with a shield different than the usual bubble, Link could have his actual shield but _nooo_ ) and smashed (it was called "Smash" for a reason... right?) the buttons. 

Dipper jumped out of the way. That was a close one.

Mabel attacked Will mercilessly (as always), not really caring that she might as well break the controller too.

Will sighed as he shielded, but kept a neutral face overall. Mabel's way of playing was similar to his twin's, so he had an easier time predicting them. Still, it was kind of hard to attack your enemy when you're too busy protecting yourself from them. 

...

All of them had one stock.

Bill's KO property was 34%.

Will's was 13%

Dipper's was 14%

Mabel's was 30%

All considered, the match could've lasted hours.

But that wasn't the point right then.

...

"So, one time Bill, Will and I went to buy bird food," Tad told the others who were still in the videochat since the match was kind of boring (nobody was being KO'd or making a combo), "but they aren't allowed inside the pet shop anymore-"

"Why?" Pacifica frowned.

"That's... a story for another day;" Tad shuddered as he vaguely remembered, but returned to his tale, "so, I left them outside for half an hour."

"Why were you buying bird food?" Gideon chimed in.

"Will found a small bird in his backyard and decided to take care of it," he explained quickly, "So, I leave them outside for half an hour, and when I return, Bill is holding a small raccoon in his arms and whispering something to it and Will is petting a giant dog."

"Where did they find them?"

Tad shrugged. He never really asked, mostly because he feared the answer.

"So, I had to enter the shop again to buy something for the raccoon and the usual stuff for a dog: a bed, food, bowls and toys, and when I return, they have a baby cat and a mouse."

"Wait, what?" Pacifica was shocked. "Do they have a zoo now, or what?"

"No, I told them to leave them in the animal shelter," he answered. "Bill named the animals. He told us the raccoon was named Rigby, the dog was Scooby Doo, the baby cat was Garfield, and the-"

"The mouse was Mickey Mouse, then?" Pacifica guessed, amused.

"No, its name was King Albert Rodrigo the seventh," Tad corrected her. "When we got home, Bill even made a paper crown and placed it on its head."

Pacifica blinked.

...

Bill scowled.

Dipper seemed troubled.

Will looked neutral.

Mabel grinned.

Dipper and Mabel attacked Bill at the same time, sending him flying through the stage. He tried to use his grappling hook, but it didn't reach the end. His eyes widened and he gasped before he fell.

...

Will still looked neutral, but was internally struggling. His brother! His twin! His friend! His _family_! How dare they! 

It was just a videogame, but he knew Bill cared about his pride.

Oh well.

He had good luck, though, as he checked the enemies' damage indicators. Both were above 80% (but so was his own).

A Smash Ball appeared.

Yep, _definitely_ his lucky day.

...

Dipper was amazed.

Will had waited until he and his sister were both on the ground and close to each other to use his Final Smash.

Both of them were hit by the arrow.

Both of them got caught.

Dipper gasped. His twin did the same, except she did it dramatically. He really, really shouldn't have chosen the stage with only one platform.

Both were... KO'd.

...

The whole group cheered for the winning pair of twins.

"Nice one," Redhead told them.

"Way to go, dudes!" Question Mark.

"That was awesome, Will!" Bill's Pine Tree (yes, he had noticed).

"WOAH! HOW DID YOU DO THAT!?" Shooting Star.

"That was pretty amazing!" The Star of The Show.

"I knew you were going to win," Floppy Disk.

"Meh, I could've done better." Stitched Heart.

"Those were some good moves, Bill." Llama.

Candy and Grenda oooooh'ed.

But neither twin cared at all.

...

Bill looked at his brother, shocked and happy at the same time.

Will had avenged him!

He smiled.

His twin smiled back.

 

-.

_Who were these people?_

_The kids weren't allowed to enter their room after the scary men entered. They stayed in the hall, and did as they were told._

_Their nice lady neighbor told them those "scary men" were "policemen". What was a police? Were they nice? They seemed nice, but they were bigger and taller. Would mommy protect them?_

_They didn't understand., why could no one tell them what was going on? They were grown boys!_

_They were scared._

_Mommy wasn't waking up._

_A "policemen" called someone on a phone. More people came._

_They were dressed weird. The back of their outfit spelled "PARAMEDICS", as Will said._

_They took their mom away in a rolling bed. Could they go with her?_

_They wouldn't let the twins see her again. Why couldn't they, though?_

_The blue-eyed twin started crying. His twin tried to calm him down, just like mommy always did. That made him cry even more. He wanted his mom! His twin tried to stay calm, but couldn't. He was scared, too. He started crying silently._

_A "police" told them to pack whatever they wanted, and asked if they had a bag for clothes and toys. The twins nodded obediently, and entered their rooms to get their stuff. They packed their clothes first, and put them inside their bags. For the smaller twin, his bag was blue and had star decorations. He liked the stars a lot, like mommy. They'd stay up late at night to see them. For the taller twin, his bag was golden and had triangles from different shades of yellow and different shapes covering it. They had helped their mommy to choose them._

_The younger by ten minutes twin packed most of his toys, but he didn't have more space for the rest. He frowned at the others. He liked those too!_

_The golden-eyed kid looked at his twin and used this as an opportunity to make his brother happy. Yeah, he'd just leave his toys there, and use the extra space in his bag for his twin's toys! That way he'd be happier, right? He smiled and grabbed his twin's toys and started placing them in his bag. He smiled._

_His twin smiled back._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh btw  
> the glitch i talked about  
> happened to my uncle once  
> we were playing mario kart in the twisted mansion  
> and he went off the path  
> and he disappeared under the floor//


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Movie Night (Day?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was fun to write  
> so, i am eating jellybeans and ive discovered i cant tell the difference between the cappuccino, chocolate pudding, dr pepper and root beer, and its kinda annoying

"So, Bill, tell me; when are you gonna confess your undying feelings of love to Dipper?" Tad asked Bill as he grabbed a bunch of popcorns and ate them. A movie night, in a comfortable couch (seriously, he should steal it from the brothers), candies and bread. _Perfect._

"...Shut up," was all Bill said.

"Now here's something new, you didn't even bother to correct me," Tad smirked.

Bill groaned, and mumbled something incoherently (Tad managed to understand the words "stupid traitor" and "never listens") as he grabbed another set of pillows and handed them to Will, who gladly accepthed them with open arms and placed on their bundle of softness.

"Where are the candies?" Tad asked, looking around for them. He swore they had been right next to the couch he was sitting on just a few seconds ago.

"In your heart," Bill lazily replied as he turned to face him and formed a heart with both his hands, smirking.

Tad rolled his eyes, "No, seriously. Where are they?"

"I dunno," Bill made himself comfortable inside his newly made coccon of fluffy pillows and soft blankets (it was a tradition of Will and his, they'd make a bundle of blankets, pillows, cushions, plushies and anything soft and comfortable everytime they'd watch a movie) on the floor. "maybe Will ate them all."

Will sent him an unamused glare.

"Oh, really? Are you sure you didn't hide them inside a pillow or something?" Tad narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Yep," Bill replied dismissively, ending the conversation succesfuly as he turned on the TV, and selected the movie on Netflix that Tad had suggested.

The beginning of the movie "The Infernal Seeker" was boring. It was supposed to be a horror movie, and the beginning was all but horror. It was like saying unicorns were scary when they just look like fluff balls with horns and sparkly eyes (he probably needed better analogies, but he was _not_ going to spend a whole day making up a bunch of those- that was what Will was there for). 

"It's so _boooring_ ," Bill whined before the first five minutes of the movie (it was a new record). He silently grabbed a bag of jellybeans and tore it open, shoving the little candies greedily into his mouth.

"Shut up and let me listen, Bill," Tad grabbed a handful of popcorn and threw it at his friend. Bill huffed as he tried to pull the popcorn out of his hair.

"Last time we did a food war and I took a shower, I found doritos in my hair," he reminded Tad, who laughed at him.

"Well, if you're so bored, then invite Dipper, wait, Pine Tree. Yeah, invite Pine Tree to watch the movie with us."

"He's like, at the other side of USA," Bill reasoned.

"Skype exists," Tad paused the movie.

Bill nodded in comprehension and carefully grabbed his laptop from undeneath the couch. Bill somewhat feared that Will had done something to it, but as he inspected it, he knew there was nothing wrong with it, so he entered Skype. Okay, Pine Tree was online. He sent out a message.

[evil dorito] PINE TREE

[Dipper] oh hey bill

[evil dorito] DO YOU WANT TO WATCH A MOVIE?

Dipper didn't know how could he watch a movie with someone who was miles and miles away from him, but typed his agreement nonetheless, he had nothing else to do after all.

[Dipper] sure

Bill sent him a videocall request. Oh. _Ooooh_. Right, videocalls do exist. Even if Skype sucks.

He accepted it, and saw Bill's face inmediatedly.

"HIYA, PINE TREE!" Bill greeted him loudly and waved his hand.

"Hi, Dipper," wait, Tad was there too, eating popcorn and... bread? He decided it was better not to question why.

Will, who was busy stuffing his face with popcorn to properly greet him, simply nodded wordlessly at him in acknowledgement of his presence.

"Hey guys," he awkwardly waved (he wasn't the best conversation starter). "What movie are we watching?"

"The eternal seeker or something like that," the golden-eyed blonde replied, rolling his eyes.

"The Infernal Seeker," Tad corrected him.

"I think I prefer the eternal seeker," Bill raised an eyebrow and contemplated his thoughts.

"What kind of name is that?" Dipper raised an eyebrow.

"Dunno. Boring name for a boring movie, I guess." Bill shrugged and opened a Snickers, shoving it on his mouth.

"It wouldn't be as boring if you actually paid attention to it," Tad frowned at Bill.

"Let's just watch it," Dipper said, nerviously (seriously, couldn't they get just along?).

"Alright," Tad played the movie from the beginning, and Bill whined a "whyyy".

The movie wasn't half bad at all, it was only the way it was redacted. The plot was kind of interesting, too. It was about a kid who made a deal with a demon to get the answers of everything and anything, but, by accident, caused a rift between dimensions and demons and monsters alike entered it, causing the night to never end.

"Oh, and here comes the best part," Bill warned as he tore appart a package of M&Ms and ate them.

"Bill, shut up," Tad scolded him.

Bill hmph'ed and crossed his arms.

The part he refered to was when the monsters started a scandal in the city and killed people.

One of those monsters happened to look atrocious. It looked like a human being stitched to _another_ human being, both bodies morphed into a single one covered in blood. One of its mouths was making one of those typical sounds zombies do in movies and the other was... giggling. It looked in pain but it still walked around and literally bit off a person's head. Then, the scene changed to the protagonist going through an old mall and the mentioned monster teleported infront of the kid and jumpscared him.

Tad jumped, startled by the sound.

Dipper (even though he wasn't even in the room) shrieked.

Will merely blinked and looked at the others with a bored expression (it wasn't _that_ scary at all).

Bill laughed at the top of his lungs.

"Oh my god," he said between laughs. "You should've seen your face, Pine Tree!"

Dipper glared daggers at him.

"Bill!" Tad scolded him. "Don't make fun of your boyfriend," He smirked.

Bill and Dipper both blushed, and looked away.

"Shut up, Tad."

"See? Now you don't even bother correcting me."

Dipper blushed even more.

Bill groaned and faceplanted on a pillow. "I thought you were my friend. Traitor. Forget about the nickname Floppy Disk, now it's Floppy Traitor. Traitor Strange. It suits you."

Tad ignored him and went back to watching the movie.

"Why do we keep watching this crap?" Bill wondered not even three minutes after.

"Oh, please tell me if you have something better to watch," Tad narrowed his eyes and smiled playfully.

"Of course. I'd like to suggest we watch "Princess Annacelestialmoonlightbelle and the quest to find the perfect man", please," Bill tried to sound serious, but ended up laughing at the end.

Tad chuckled. 

Dipper laughed along Bill. "I'd watch that," he pointed out.

"See, Floppy Traitor, we want to watch that crap, not this thing," Bill proclaimed. "Anyone who wants to watch "Princess Annaceleswhatever and the quest to find the perfect man", raise your hands."

Bill, Dipper and even Will raised their hands.

"We are not watching that," Tad reminded them.

"Yes we are," Bill got up and reached out for the remote, but Tad stood up in the couch and held it higher so the former couldn't reach it. "ACCEPT YOUR FAITH!"

Dipper laughed at the group of friends' shenanigans. _Someone could even make a movie out of their stories,_ he thought.

"NO, I WON'T!"

"YES YOU WILL!" Bill jumped and tried to reach the remote again, but couldn't jump high enough.

"Me what?" a quiet voice asked from his spot in the floor, a tiny smile forming in his lips.

"STOP STARING AND HELP ME!" Bill shouted and without any warning, tackled Tad, causing both plus the couch to fall. He laughed and held a fist up in the air along the remote. "I WIN!"

Dipper laughed even harder.

Tad joined him. 

Will smiled more.

"So," Bill paused, "WHO WANTS TO WATCH "PRINCESS ANNAWHATEVER AND THE QUEST TO FIND THE PERFECT MAN"?!"

-.

_The twins were silent during the ride to their new "home". Why couldn't they have stayed with their nice lady neighbor? Would mommy come for them later? Where were they going? Their mommy had told them not to go with strangers, but the nice lady neighbor had told them it was okay. That they would be okay. They didn't believe her._

_Will, with his recent neutral face (he had looked like that ever since they left the appartment building), looked through the window of the police car._

_Bill played with his hands nerviously. If Mommy wasn't going to be there for Will, then he would be, he promised himself._

_They arrived. The place was colorful. People were inside._

_Maybe Mommy was there, too?_

_There was a garden. That said garden had kids. They were playing._

_The police told them they were going to live there for a while._

_But for how long?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> haha i made up those movies they dont actually exist (the Infernal Seeker or that thing is based off Dipper and the deal he made with bill//)  
> but i'd probably watch them 
> 
> aaaanyway *eats a couple jellybeans* the plot will start to somewhat appear on the next chapter
> 
> see ya!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh sorry for this crappy chapter but hey  
> the plot is slowly forming

[evil dorito] SO, PINE TREE. TELL ME ABOUT YOUR DAY

Bill was a good conversation starter. He knew his Pine Tree wasn't exactly what you would call a social kid, so he tried to get him to talk more.

[Dipper] i didnt do anything interesting

[Dipper] but if u really wanna know

[evil dorito] I DO

He was, in fact, curious-

[Dipper] weeelll

[Dipper] i went to the park with mabes

[Dipper] and there is this boy from school

[Dipper] his name is charlie

[Dipper] well actually we r still in the park im just stealing the internet

[evil dorito] IS HE NICE?

[Dipper] yeah, he is

[Dipper] and i think he likes mabel

[Dipper] but mabes doesnt like him back

[Dipper[ hes still a good friend of mabes so yah

[evil dorito] WHAT DOES HE LOOK LIKE?

[Dipper] he has this completely black hair and nice blue eyes

[Dipper] he is kinda taller than me 2

Okay, he had to admit it. Bill was kinda jealous. But he couldn't do anything. His Pine Tree was far, far away from him. And he couldn't just tell him that _yes_ , he might have a crush on him. He just didn't know what to do. He couldn't just enter a videocall and tell him something like "I love you" because he wasn't sure if he did (he had met the guy a little bit over two weeks ago, for God's sake!), and he couldn't tell him "hey I like you" because then Pine Tree wouldn't take him seriously, and gosh, Bill did _not_ know what to do. He groaned. He did spend time with Pine Tree. A lot of time. They'd spend hours without end chatting about whatever had happened before or in videocalls. They'd play videogames together and they both enjoyed that time spent with each other. Besides, Pine Tree had the right to have friends. He couldn't tell him what to do.

[Dipper] hey bill u there

[Dipper] bill

[Dipper] biiilll

Oh shot, he had forgotten. How much time did he zone out? Oh well, it didn't matter. He quickly typed some sort of response as fast as his fingers could, not wanting to leave Pine Tree alone at all.

[evil dorito] YEAH, PINE TREE?

[Dipper] nvm

[Dipper] its nothing

Oh, alright. It definitely was nothing interesting that Bill wanted to know. He was going to respect Pine Tree's boundaries, though, and wouldn't ask again if he didn't want to tell him anything.

[Dipper] what did u do with ur day?

He laughed as he remembered. He, Will and Floppy Disk had gone grocery shopping earlier in the day. A lot of (weird) stuff happened there (he had to admit it, it was fun); long story short: now they were banned from the store. He blamed Floppy Disk, just like he blamed him for almost everything.

[evil dorito] I WENT GROCERY SHOPPING WITH WILL AND TAD

[evil dorito] WE ARE BANNED FROM THAT STORE NOW

[Dipper] ...

[Dipper] y?

[evil dorito] APPARENTLY WE CANT RIDE A SHOPPING CART AND OPEN THE NUTELLA NOR THE CONFETTI CANNONS. AND WE CANT USE THOSE WEIRD MOVING LADDERS EITHER.

[Dipper] omg y did u do that?

[evil dorito] I WAS BORED

[evil dorito] PLUS THE STORE HAD RAN OUT OF DORITOS

He had actually been riding a shopping cart with Will, the later eating nutella that hadn't been paid for yet (Bill noticed how much he influenced the younger twin and smiled) and throwing confetti at Tad who was busy riding one of the ladders with wheels to reach a box. People had given them weird stares, and Bill didn't question why for a single second.

[Dipper] lmao

[evil dorito] HEY, LETS PLAY TWO TRUTHS AND ONE LIE

He was bored, and he wanted to know more about his Pine Tree, so playing that game would be a good excuse.

[Dipper] kay

[Dipper] u start

[evil dorito] ALRIGHT

[evil dorito] I HAVE BEEN BANNED FROM OVER THIRTY SHOPS AND PLACES, I AM A PRODIGY CHILD AND I DONT LIKE COLOR PURPLE

[Dipper] hm, u do like purple

[evil dorito] NO. I HATE IT. TAD WEARS IT OFTEN BECAUSE OF IT.

Well, maybe Tad didn't wear purple because of his hate for it and he may have had exaggerated on that part, but he didn't care.

[evil dorito] IM NOT THE PRODIGY. WILL IS.

[Dipper] will is a prodigy?

[evil dorito] YES

[Dipper] woah, didnt know that but idk what i was expecting

[Dipper] still

Will always managed to surprise people without meaning to.

[Dipper] wait u have been banned from over thirty shops

[evil dorito] YES

[Dipper] k im not even gonna ask

In a park somewhere in Piedmont, California, Dipper shuddered at the thought of any reasons why Bill may have been banned from a store. There were so many things he didn't know about Bill, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't curious.

[evil dorito] YOUR TURN

[Dipper] oh alright

[Dipper] i have never gone camping, i can play the sousaphone since i was a kid, and i love coffee

[evil dorito] YOU CANT PLAY THE SOUSAWHATEVER

[Dipper] ill let u know that i can perfectly play the sousawhatever

[evil dorito] THAT THING ACTUALLY EXISTS?

[Dipper] uhmm yeah

Huh. Bill had thought Pine Tree had made that name up or something. He quickly googled "SOUSAPHONE". He scanned over the images and his first thought was "they look like weird toilets made of gold". Okay. Stop thinking.

[evil dorito] OH

[evil dorito] THEN YOU'VE GONE CAMPING

[Dipper] yeah

[evil dorito] I WENT CAMPING WITH WILL LAST YEAR AND WE ALMOST SET THE FOREST IN FIRE

Bill chuckled fondly at the memory that still lingered in his head. That had been fun. Will had told him to rub two rocks together to start a fire, and when he tried several times but when he got not even the slightest spark, he threw both rocks out of frustration behind him. Apparently they had been actually set on fire, and they landed on the branch of a tree, almost burning it if it wasn't for Will who inmediately threw water out of panic and extinguished it. 

Dipper covered his mouth with his hand to muffle his laughter as he read the message. He knew he should be at least a little bit surprised, but he wasn't. There were like a hundred words for "crazy" and they all somehow fit Bill _perfectly_. He could almost imagine it: Bill lighting something for accident and Will frantically trying to put the fire out. It was a funny thought too.

"Hey! Dip-dop! We're gonna play frisbee! Play with us!" his sister called him from behind holding a frisbee in her hands as if it were a trophy.. She was smiling widely at him and looked just like if she was twelve again. Her smile was contagious, as he found himself smiling too. Her eyes were shining brightly, and he vaguely remembered the nickname "Shooting Star".

 _You're never too old to play frisbee,_ he easily concluded.

[Dipper] imma go play frisbee k

[evil dorito] OH ALRIGHT

Bill sighed as he typed to Pine Tree his own way to say goodbye and grabbed his notebook. He lazily stood up and ignored several sounds coming from downstairs, easily dismissing them, thinking it was Will probably cooking dinner or maybe ordering a pizza. He opened it and stared longingly at the words written in black ink.

" _BILL! YOU IDIOT! COME HERE!_ " His eyes widened and he dropped the notebook he had been holding. He catiously but quickly made his way to the stairs. He looked down and saw his father standing there, angry. Will was there too, standing infront of the man and gazing at the floor. 

His hands balled down to fists as he descended downstairs.

_This was going to be a long day._

-.

_Bill and Will stared at the almost colorless mansion._

_"It looks creepy," Bill told his twin who nodded in agreement._

_After months of staying in the colorful building, they had been told by a policeman that they'd be staying with their "dad" and their "grandparents". They had eavesdropped on a conversation between what sounded like an "old man" and a "weird angry man" according to Bill. Will had managed to understand small pieces and fragments._

_-"why weren't you responsible for them",_

_-"they're not worth my time",_

_-"they have your blood",_

_-"I don't care",_

_-"you will take care of them"._

_None of the twins understood what they meant._

_Bill tugged at his twin's sleeve and pointed at the door._

_This was where their family lived._

_This was where they were going to live._

_Will looked at his twin and shook his head. This place didn't look nice at all._

_Bill shot his twin an apologetic look but shrugged._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> gkelmrehkmre  
> have a nice day -3-


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaaaaaah chapter 10  
> what a nice number
> 
> ok so exams are starting next week  
> and i havent paid any attention in most classes  
> help

Will sighed as he wrapped the bandage around his twin's arm once more and made a nice knot with it. He tapped the bandage twice and looked at his twin for any signs of pain, and saw Bill trying his hardest to not wince visibly. His twin looked at the side and rolled up his sleeves , showing yet another bruise. Will flinched himself once he took a good look at it. It didn't seem like it'd disappear anytime soon.

He grabbed a bag of ice and gently placed it on the bruise for a few minutes, silently hoping this way it would heal sooner. He then grabbed the bandages from the wood bedside table and started wrapping another one again. Bill chose to scowl at himself rather than show any signs of pain, and Will sighed once more.

He wrapped the bandage another time and ended it in a knot once again. 

He waited for Bill to show him any other bruise or cut, but felt relieved once his twin didn't move.

He quietly sat at his side, and looked out the window. The sky was clear, the night was young and the stars were slowly showing themselves. It's a beautiful sight, he easily decided. 

He heard a quiet and truthful "thanks" coming from his twin, and he simply looked at his twin and nodded in reply before turning to view the sky again.

This time, their father had been angry at Will for letting a cat (Bill had actually been the one to find it, but had left it in the woods) inside. He had just planned to sneak the cat in and take care of it in secret, but it didn't go as he wanted. Bill was called downstairs too for some reason, and had just taken the blame.

_"I was the one who told him to sneak the cat in," the golden eyed twin said._

_Their father thoughtfully looked at him for any signs of lies and concluded the eldest of his sons was saying the truth._

_"Will, go to your room."_

_Will shuddered at the sound of his father's voice, and looked at his twin for help, but when he saw his twin's pleading eyes, he quickly made his way upstairs and to the room just right infront of Bill's._

His father always prefered him over Bill, and thought that the relationship he had with his twin was somewhat like a king and a slave, Bill obviosuly being the king, bossing him around.

It wasn't fair.

He would do anything for his twin, but so would Bill, and if it meant lying and getting cuts and bruises, his twin wouldn't hesitate nor would he think twice about it. Bill would always put his twin's safety and needs above his own.

It worried Will.

This time it had only been cuts and bruises,

_but what about the next?_

-.

Bill carried his laptop over to his twin's room, and sat down on the floor next to Will, who looked at him.

"Do they still hurt?" Will asked.

"Nah, I'm good," Bill replied as he opened Skype.

Will glared at his twin. Twin. He could see through his lies. His twin was hurt and it was his fault. He waited for his twin to speak.

"...okay, they do hurt, but it's okay," Bill quickly reassured him and went back to reading whatever was happening in "THE CIPHER WHEEL".

"No, it's not," Will whispered loud enough for himself to hear but quiet enough so Bill wouldn't.

[shooting star] so

[shooting star] their ship name is dipdorito?

[Floppy Disk] No, it's BillDip

Will instantly joined.

[cornchip] i think bill prefers billdip

[Dipper] dont u dare start this again

[Candy&Grenda] bipper?

[llama] i think evildip sounds good

[Dipper] guys no

[shooting star] pls decide so i can make him a sweater with it

[llama] omg ur making a evildip sweater?!?

[shooting star] yeah but i need u to decide what ship name is best

[Dipper] mabel dont

[llama] i think bipper or billdip

[evil dorito] DO I GET A SAY IN THIS?

[llama] no

[evil dorito] ;-;

[shooting star] so bipper or billdip?

[Candy&Grenda] billdip

[Floppy Disk] billdip

[llama] billdip

[cornchip] billdip

Bill glared at his traitor twin.

[shooting star] glad we agree on something

[llama] make the sweater blue and yellow

[shooting star] okay

[Candy&Grenda] waiitt i have an ideaa

[Candy&Grenda] make a yellow sweater for bill with blue letters saying bill

[Candy&Grenda] and a blue sweater for dipper with yellow letters sayin dip

[Dipper] omg no

[llama] omg yes

[evil dorito] CAN IT BE GOLD INSTEAD OF YELLOW?

[shooting star] sure

[shooting star] wait dIPDOP I NEED UR MEASUREMENTS

[Dipper] wait nonono hELP

-.

Will sighed and flinched as he took away the one-day old and bloody bandages. They didn't look better than yesterday. In fact, they seemed worse. He sighed again.

"What's the matter, Mr. Sigh?" his brother asked. Bill knew his own injuries weren't healing anytime soon, but rare was the occasion Will seemed concerned. And why he wouldn't admit it, he worried even more whenever his brother seemed worried as well. Maybe it was some weird twin thing.

"Nothing," Will quickly shook his head. Bill could see right through his lies, but respected his twin's boundaries.

He desinfected the few cuts and wrapped band aids on the smallest ones. He then started to wrap bandages again in every other cut and bruise, being mindful of not hurting his twin.

Just what had he done that Bill got away with so much wounds?

He shuddered.

He really didn't want to know.

"Does it hurt as much as yesterday?" He asked, still wrapping a new, clean bandage on his twin's right arm.

"...yeah." The response Will got was such a small whisper that if it had been in a lower voice, he'd need to have super-hearing to know what his twin said. It was truly concerning. Bill's pride wouldn't allow him to admit he was hurt.

Will sighed. Again. It would sooner or later become a bad habit if Bill kept getting hurt.

"Forget Mr. Sigh, you are Doctor Sigh," Bill chuckled, amusement evident in his tone.

"Should I be glad?"

"Probably not," he answered and winced as Will slightly put more effort into wrapping a bandage thus hurting him.

"Sorry," Will quickly apologized.

"Don't be." 

Will sighed. Couldn't his twin understand he was hurt because of his fault?

"Will Sighpher," Bill wondered outloud. "I like it."

Will glared daggers at his twin.

"What? It wasn't an insult." Bill shrugged, then winced because, damn, that single movement hurt. He frowned and rubbed his shoulder. "I don't think I wanna move ever again in my whole life."

"I doubt you can do that."

"You wound me. I thought you had faith on me," Bill dragged his arm and placed it on his forehead, feigning being desperate. He winced again. "No, seriously."

Will rolled his eyes. "Stop moving then."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"It's like breathing. I'll die if I stop moving."

"All the more reason you should stop moving."

"Haha, I love you too," Bill huffed. 

-.

[shooting star] dipdop ran away

[Candy&Grenda] you can always take his measurements when he is asleep

[shooting star] yeah

[llama] thats kinda creepy

[shooting star] its the only way

[evil dorito] THAT MEANS I'M SAFE?

[shooting star] ur never safe from me

[evil dorito] OH.

[Floppy Disk] I'm actually corncerned for my own safety right now

[evil dorito] I THINK WE ALL ARE

[shooting star] as u should

[llama] thats not helping

[shooting star] i never meant to help u

[llama] mabel no

[shooting star] did u now u can take out someones eye with a needle

[Floppy Disk] ...

[shooting star] it shouldnt be difficult either

[llama] pls stop

[shooting star] especially if the person is asleep

[llama] mABEL STOP

[shooting star] goodnight

[evil dorito] ...

[evil dorito] (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻)

[Floppy Disk] I'm not sleeping tonight

[llama] none of us are

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks a lot for all the comments, kudos, and for every hit ;v;  
> i really appreciate them ;v;


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aah i finally finished twilight princess  
> i only have like 15 hearts and not all of the souls but still//  
> okay i know this is a small chapter but i really gotta go (fast) right now because i have an exam tomorrow i definitely dont want to fail- imma go study now

[evil dorito] WHAT IF EVERYTIME WE HAVE A DEJA VU ITS JUST THAT IN SOME OTHER DIMENSIONS THOSE WERE OUR LAST MOMENTS

Dipper ignored the last message and opened the chest infront of him, it only had three apples inside.

Bill had said he wanted to play the Hunger Games, to which Tad replied that _no_ , there is _not_ a game like the Hunger Games that they could all play together. After a few minutes of arguing, Tad had gotten desperate and finally decided to search if there were actually any games like that. And, (un)fortunately, he found out there were Minecraft servers with the Hunger Games gamemode.

And after a few more minutes of arguing, it had been decided they'd be playing.

So, here they were now.

Candy had been killed just when the game started, though.

And Pacifica and Will were nowhere to be found. According to Pacifica, they were somewhere in a forest full of _blocks_. According to Will, they were on a river. Dipper was pretty sure there wasn't a single river in the whole arena. It had been decided that those two wouldn't be searched.

And he was stuck with Mabel, Tad and Bill.

[cornchip] what if we learn to live underwater or to fly

[shooting star] what if theres a dimension were school isnt hard

_Ha, as if that were possible._

[llama] what if theres a dimension where papers write on humans

[Candy&Grenda] what if theres a dimension where ants are as intelligent as us

[Dipper] how can u play and type at the same time

He kinda had the temptation of throwing his _own laptop off the window_. _Or go to Bill's place and make him throw it away_. But, then he'd have to get another one, and he didn't have enough money for that.

His character was hit by Bill's, and was about to scold him when he saw Tad was going somewhere (without them). _Don't leave me with him_ , he silently begged.

[cornchip] What if theres a dimension where nothing exists

[evil dorito] WHAT IF WE DONT EXIST

[cornchip] What if we arent actually real and this is all a dream

Okay, now he'd probably have an existential crisis. Thanks, Bill and Will. 

He decided to enter some kind of old house, Bill's character staying at the door. He supposed Bill would either guard him and protect him from any unwanted visitors _or_ kill him once he turned his back on him. 

[llama] what if theres a dimension where purses open our organs and stuff makeup on them

 _Ugh, that's kinda gross_. How can she even sleep at night with those kinds of thoughts...? He'd rather not know.

[shooting star] what if plushies are actually alive and are planning our deaths

[Floppy Disk] What if every single thing is conscious and aware of everything, even its own death?

Oh. No. Nope. He would not regret every single desicion he'd ever made in his whole life that meant harming anything. He would not regret killing that spider that one time. He would not regret- why were they even talking about this?

[Dipper] guyS LETS SKIP THIS AND LETS TALK ABOUT CORNBREAD OR SOMETHING

[cornchip] Lets talk about cornchips

[shooting star] lets talk about shooting stars

[llama] lets talk about llamas

[Floppy Disk] Let's talk about floppy disks.

[Candy&Grenda] lets talk about candies

[evil dorito] LETS TALK ABOUT DORITOS

Dipper facepalmed. He found another chest and opened it. Another sword made out of wood to add to his collection. _Great_. However, once he went outside he noticed Bill wasn't there. What.

[Dipper] can u not

[evil dorito] CAN WE NOT?

[cornchip] can we not can we not

[llama] can we actually not

[Floppy Disk] Is it possible to can we not?

[shooting star] what if theres a universe where we can not stop talking about cornbread

[Dipper] kill me

[evil dorito] OKAY

His eyes widened. Wait nononono-

Bill's character attacked his from behind. He almost instantly died. He heard the weird thunder(?) thing that alerted the others that someone had just died. He snarled. Why. Had. He. Said. That.

[evil dorito] WHAT IF WE WERE IN A ROOM AND SAID ALL THIS ALOUD

[Dipper] people would definitely look at us weird

[shooting star] they wont once they die

[llama] what people

[Dipper] cat u be normal for once

[Dipper] cant*

Damn.

He decided to watch Bill's character for a while. He seemed to know what he was doing.

-.

"Will."

Will looked up from his now fixed laptop, silently asking for his twin to continue.

"I killed Pine Tree. Where are you?"

Will resisted the urge to scold him, but showed his twin his coordinates anyways.

-.

[evil dorito] I CAT TRY

[shooting star] we cat try

[llama] lets cat

[Floppy Disk] I cat.

Bill's character seemed to move in a specific direction. Maybe he knew (for once) where he was going. _That was a good thing_ , he supposed. Maybe he knew where people were.

[evil dorito] YOU CAT

[llama] they cat

[shooting star] we cat

[Dipper] this is annoying 

Dipper threw his hands up in desesperation. Nope. No, he was not going to tolerate them anymore. 

Bill met up with Pacifica and Will's characters. Oh, so he had asked his twin for his location. That was somewhat a smart move.

He realized Tad had never returned. Had he died?

[llama] he cats

[shooting star] she cats

[cornchip] IT CATS

Would they ever get tired of this? _Someday_ , he hoped, _they will_. Were they pranking him or something? He'd kill Mabel if she had been the one with the idea of pranking him. 

[evil dorito] WHAT DOES THE FOX SAY

 _Oh God no._ That song was so old! He hated it, but how did Bill know that? Wait, did he even know or was it just a coincidence?

[shooting star] ringg ding ding diing dingeringedingregnkhtrhtj

Mabel just betrayed him. _How dare she_ , he huffed. He noticed that she may (by may he meant most likely) have had trouble writing that. _Ha, it's now a win for me_ , he decided.

[Floppy Disk] Gering-ding-ding-ding-dingeringeding!

He blinked. Wait. Tad seemed to have no problem writing all that and using caps and proper puntuaction marks all in the same sentence. He blinked again. _Seriously_ , Tad was on _another level_. He looked at what Bill, Will and Pacifica were doing.

He blinked again.

_Ooooh._

Bill had said that because they had found some random person with a fox costume.

That made sense now.

He didn't know whether be sad or happy when they all teamed up against the poor guy.

-.

And when Will randomly asked during the game if his twin had heard something coming from downstairs, Dipper narrowed his eyes.

When Bill didn't answer, he decided to be concentrated on the chat instead of the game.

When Tad said he'd be leaving somewhere, he wasn't sure what to think anymore.

When he remembered that on their last videocall, Bill had showed signs of pain, he doubted.

But when Bill had randomly announced he and Will needed to leave too, he almost had his own suspicions of what was going on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> omfg more than 2000 views and 217 kudos  
> i love you all  
> *gives away mini ciphers*//


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaha  
> i kinda left this on a cliffhanger last time so  
> oh good news  
> my last exam will be tomorrow  
> bad news  
> that last exam is math  
> plus i gotta do some kind of project for my entrepreneur class 
> 
> and i've been out of it today  
> i wrote this in the summary of this chapter before changing it to notes

Dipper sighed.

He wasn't sure _what_ he should do.

Anything he had thought of could be _wrong_ , just like anything could be the _right_ thing.

Besides, he had just jumped into conclusions. There would _always_ be the chance that something he had thought was wrong.

And even if what he thought was _correct_ , what could he do?

There was only so much you could do being miles away from someone. And especially if you weren't even of age yet.

And he was kind of scared, too.

He was scared for Bill and Will's sake.

_What if he was actually right?_

He shuddered.

He tried making a mental list of some of the hints he had.

-.

_Dipper] so yah our parents are rly nice ppl_

_[evil dorito] THEY SOUND LIKE THEY ARE_

_[Dipper] what about yours?_

_Bill didn't answer._

-.

_"So, what is it you nerds say before eating?" Bill questioned both eating and videocalling Dipper at the same time, showing him his instant noodles he had somehow managed to prepare without burning anything (a rather interesting accomplishment, but Bill was proud of it)._

_"Huh? What do you mean?" Dipper would be lying if he said he wasn't confused, so he turned to look from his own plate to Bill._

_"Eat a dorky mass of?" Bill made weird gestures with his hands._

_Dipper blinked. Some gears must've had turned on in his brain because he quickly recognized what Bill meant and inmediatedly laughed._

_"It's itadakimasu, actually."_

_"Oh, that thing," Bill nodded and decided it'd be best if he continued to slurp the noodles, but one suddent movement he had done in order to grab the box had him wincing. Dipper inmeadiatedly frowned._

_"Hey, you okay?"_

_"Yeah," Bill lied through gritted teeth._

_"What happened to you? Are you hurt?"_

_"I roughhoused with Tad earlier," and his tone ended the conversation._

_But he had been chatting and videocalling Bill all day long and Mabel had told him Tad had stayed in his own house, too._

-.

No. He shook his head.

None of his current thoughts were comforting on the least.

It could be anything, really.

He knew how Bill could act sometimes. He could be all carefree and happy and the next moment he'd be wearing a smile that said ' _I-can-think-of-a-hundred-different-ways-to-kill-you-with-a-fork_ '. And when it came to his brother, he'd speak fondly about him or memories that involved him, exactly like he did with Mabel. Always trying to look like he didn't care at all or like he was annoyed when in reality he was not. Then when Bill was frustrated, he'd simply put on a mask of indifference and that'd be okay for the rest of the day or at least until he changed his mood.

Oh, and maybe at times he could be just as _sweet_ as ice cream, but just as _cold_. Sometimes, only.

And all of that pretty much summed up Bill's emotions.

Dipper was sure he'd never seen Bill angry for real, or sad, or any other emotion besides those at all.

And it could be scary sometimes.

Especially since Dipper really didn't know how to deal with people.

And even if he knew, Bill was a completely different case.

It just...he didn't know what to do.

He'd probably get white hair _before_ even entering college if he continued worrying like this.

Ha, that even sounded like something Bill would have said.

Dipper knew that kid definitely was a bad influence on him.

(Not that like would change his friendship with him).

If Bill hated him, though...

He sighed.

Really, kids his age should _not_ be worrying like this.

But, it's not like life was fair. _I've already learned that, but thanks a lot for the reminder_ , he thought as he laid down in his bed, facing the ceiling. He knew he should be talking about this with an adult (he'd be an adult soon, but still), but he didn't have enough proof. Then, even if he did have evidence, what could he do? And if he told Mabel... She'd turn into a mother hen, that's for sure. And she'd worry, and worry, and worry... And he didn't want her to worry. He liked seeing his sister happy and carefree, but thanks for the offer anyway.

He rolled to his right side and looked at his phone.

It was just...

Should he ask Bill? Will, maybe?

No, Will would probably freak out and it wasn't like he knew him as much as Bill. 

Tad?

But what would Tad say?

They lived nearby and all, so Dipper was sure Tad would at least know something, but he couldn't be sure. Then, if Tad knew something, then it would be because the Cipher twins trusted him.

What if they didn't trust Dipper?

He... He just wasn't sure if he knew what he knew, or if what he actually knew was true.

He sighed, and rolled again to be laying on his back. He stared at the ceiling. It was... colorful, thanks to Mabel. She had been on art lessons, and she was like a little kid, she started to paint everywhere. On his books, backpacks, floor, ceiling, walls, his own clothes. So, a few months ago, when he had been sleeping at night, and woke up at midnight, then looked at the ceiling, he wasn't surprised to find it full of trees. Yeah, _trees. Pine trees_. A forest, with some beautiful mountains, a large river with water flowing peacefully. And of course, she took the time to draw a midnight sky, full of stars and some clouds, and drew the Big Dipper and made it more noticeable than the other constellations. It basically screamed Dipper. He wondered if that was the reason the Cipher twins called him Pine Tree.

And even if he had met those two not so long ago, he cared about them.

It was kind of funny.

He cared more about this twins that he'd met not more than 2 months ago than most people at his school that he'd been with for years.

There was just something about them that made them impossible to be hated.

Will was quiet, but he would make jokes. He was usually reserved, but he liked sharing stories of him and his brother. He was fun, and he cared for his brother and everyone. He's usually just be somewhat in the background, but whenever he wanted, he easily made his way to the spotlight. And he was good at videogames too. Dipper would always look up at him whenever he couldn't accomplish something or whenever he just wanted to know a trick to win first place in a game (then again, Will just seemed to _know everything_ ). You could count on him for help on any assignment at all and he'd be glad to help.

Then there was Bill.

That loud, quickly thinking, somewhat intelligent, and undeniably _handsome asshole_. The one that could make you shudder with fear or laugh at something silly that happened to him earlier in the day (like that one time he sent a video that Will had recorded of Bill falling from a tree he managed to climb to). He was always doing something, whether he was trying to frame someone for murdering someone else with a physics book or simply playing a videogame about taking care of a hamster. He always managed to make people smile just as quick as you could think of a black and white animal. Sometimes you couldn't be sure that it was the same person the one who managed to bake a perfectly triangular-shaped doritos cake (Will had been the one to taste-test it and almost ended up sick) with a horrible flavor but then he could be trading his umbrella to a little kid in a rainy day in exchange for a yellow lollypop.

But the more he thought about them, the less he thought he should say something.

He sighed, and reached for his laptop.

He just needed to do something.

He promised himself that if something went wrong, he'd regret it later, as he carefully clicked the Call option on Skype.

His hands balled to fists as he tried to concentrate. 

What was the worst that could happen?

 _Anything_ , his mind supplied, unhelpfully.

Bill seemed to accept the unexpected call after a few seconds, probably just thinking that Dipper had found some random game to play with him or just wanted to talk. 

Dipper felt bad. Then again, what else could he do?

The screen came to life, showing Bill sitting in his bed, wearing a dark blue shirt and black pants.

"Heya, Pine Tree!" Bill greeted him, enthusiastically.

He just... wanted to help.

"Hey, Bill," he replied, but didn't return any of the happiness Bill showed, nor the usual happiness he showed.

"Pine Tree? You okay?" Bill tilted his head to the side, frowning.

"'M fine," Dipper absentmindedly replied. _I should be asking you that_. He tries searching for any way to approach him, and found none. 

He would hate himself later for this, but as for the time being, he gathered up his courage and blurted out,

"What exactly is happening right now at your house?"

_Yes, he'd definitely beat himself up for this later._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm such a bad person, ain't i?  
> i guess you can expect the next chapter to be up soon, but can't promise anything
> 
> have a nice day/night(?)!
> 
> ps. next chapter is chapter 13  
> perfect number for the plot


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is basically 2500 words long omg
> 
> enjoy! (or not(?))

"What exactly is happening right now at your house?" Pine Tree asked.

 _Huh?_ Bill tilted his head to the side again. Was it because he had eaten Will's chocolate muffin and Pine Tree was avenging it? He wouldn't do it again, it was just that the muffin had been left there and he had been hungry! Not his fault that he needed nourishment.

"Well, Will is making dinner," he easily answered, somewhat confused, but knowing that Will was making soup by the smell. It smelled rather good, actually. Will would definitely make a good chef someday.

Pine Tree blinked. Twice. Then Pine Tree laughed. He _laughed_. Was there something interesting about soup he didn't know? Or about Will? His house? Well he'd be damned if he didn't know any jokes about soup. It was just soup, what jokes could be made about it?! Now that he thought about that angelic laugh, he realized Pine Tree almost seemed relieved. Was he relieved there was no way to make a soup joke? He felt tempted to google 'soup jokes'. Well, there was the classic one of the fly on the soup but he didn't like that one at all. Oh well, he decided to pay attention again.

"I,uh," Pine Tree said between laughes, then made (or at least tried to) a serious face. He looked kinda cute like that. "No, seriously..."

"What?" Bill had been expecting for Pine Tree to say something about some random game, not this... whatever this was. He actually had been wanting to play slither.io with him, and make some jokes about the shape of those things, they just couldn't be worms. Some of them had some kind of antlers and he swore he had seen one or two (had it been the same one?) with the USA flag, and he just needed to play a game to distract him. And it just happened that he didn't know jokes about worms either. He slightly frowned as he tried to remember some stuff Will had told him about those things. They had like, four hearts? Five? And they breathed through their skin. Oh wait, he needed to know what Pine Tree wanted, these non-important facts about worms could wait.

"Tell me," Pine Tree paused, like he was searching for a way to phrase something. "How exactly did you get those wounds?"

Oh, was he refering to his small cut on his pinky finger?

"Well, it's actually a fun story. You see, when we were kids, Tad's hair was as long as shit," Pine Tree looked baffled by his choice of words," so I'd make origami monkeys and flowers to make a crown and put them in his head and call him _Floppy Disk of the jungle_ ," he paused," so I just thought it'd be nice to give him a little reminder of that, but I got a paper cut." To emphasize his point, he showed his pinky finger to the small webcam. Oh boy, it would have had been darn nice if he had gotten the cut on his middle finger, then he could insult people while having a reasonable excuse for it (that excuse being showing his paper cut, of course).

Pine Tree frowned. "No, I wasn't refering to that."

Bill huffed. "Of course not. You obviously wanted to know how I got this bruise," he showed a rather almost unnoticeable bruise in his wrist, that could be about a few weeks old. "You see, I was throwing rocks at Floppy Disk's window, and I, uh," he wasn't sure if he should add accidentally or not, so he decided against its use,"hit him in the nose with one. So, he got angry and threw me a book- not any normal book, lemme tell ya, but a _fucking enciclopedia_. I protected my beautiful face with my arms, and the rest is history." Okay, the part were he hit Tad with a rock in the nose had been hilarious, but as soon as he started laughing he saw an enciclopedia coming his way. It was better to have a bruise in the wrist than on his face, right?

"I... I actually wasn't refering to that, either."

...oh.

Bill went quiet for a few seconds.

Pine Tree seemed kind of worried about his lack of response.

He didn't want Pine Tree to worry at all.

"Well, Pine Tree, since you're so full of questions today," he attempted to smile (he saw out of the corner of his eye that Pine Tree kind of winced at his tone, but overall he just seemed determined)," I'll make a deal with you."

"Uhm, what kind of deal?" Pine Tree asked, slightly nervous, yet still determined. "It-it better not be one-sided."

"Of course not," Bill huffed. What did his Pine Tree take him for? An _unfair demon_ or what? "Let's see. You were asking me questions, right? Well, we'll play a game," he gestured to the computer and the videogames that were lying around (he didn't have time to arrange them all like Will, nor did he like arranging anything- it just made things harder to find)," and every time you win, I'll answer one of those questions."

"But?" Pine Tree was smart. Of course he'd look for the catch.

"But," he paused to add a bit of drama (he had been watching _too many_ dramatic TV shows with Tad, he had to put an end to that _soon_ )," every time you loose, you'll owe me a _kiss_. And once we meet, I'll be asking for them. Deal?"

Oh boy, Pine Tree blushed like mad once he said the word kiss. He almost laughed at his face. Priceless. 

Bill, however, didn't seem to notice that he had just somehow made a promise he wasn't willing to break, _he'd meet his Pine Tree someday_.

"O-Okay," Pine Tree nodded after a few seconds of debating with himself, determination to know easily winning against common sense.

"Well, I can't give you a handshake right now, but a deal is a deal. Let's just imagine that we actually did shake hands and ignore this detail for the rest of our lives," he told Pine Tree, who nodded once more.

"What game, though?"

Oh right. He never thought of any game at all. Slither.io could wait for another day, this time he wanted to play another game. Hmmm... He shrugged, "dunno, got any ideas?"

"Eh, how about online chess?" Pine Tree shrugged as well.

"But," he pouted. "Chess is so boring! Can't you at least _pretend_ you have taste in games?" 

Pine Tree frowned and mumbled something that suspiciously sounded like " _taste is overrated, anyways_ " which earned a genuine grin from Bill. "Well then, let's play _Dungeons, dungeons and more dungeons,_ " he said, glaring at Bill.

"Oh, I played it once but kind of burned it," Bill was quick to reply as he remembered, he had been playing with Will one moment and the next he had been burning Floppy Disk's table (he earned a scolding from Floppy Disk whom he nicknamed Stupid Disk temporarily). When he received a doubtful look, he replied "long story", dismissively.

"What do you suggest, then? Enlighten me with your choice," his Pine Tree deadpanned.

"Glad to know you care about my opinion after all," Bill told him, sarcastically.

"Always," was the reply. "No, seriously, what game?"

"Hmm... Let's play... _Sudoku_."

"And _you_ , judge _me_ , by my taste?" Pine Tree said, feigning hurt. Bill really was a bad influence on the poor kid.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"I don't understand you."

"Didn't ask you to."

"Touché."

"No, really, there's a game called Speed Sudoku."

"Want to play that? I'm not an idiot when it comes to numbers," Pine Tree added smiling, with a look as if saying _don't-you-dare-to-defy-me_.

"Neither am I," Bill smirked, returning that same look.

The two entered the website for the game, and quickly registered.

"Ugh, why do I have to confirm my email?" Bill whined. "It's mine, I already know, but thanks for the reminder!"

Pine Tree rolled his eyes.

"Someone else could be using it too, you know?"

"But why?" Bill frowned. "I doubt someone would like to use STUPID.EVIL.DORITO@GMAIL.COM for anything at all."

"So do I. Still," he narrowed his eyes slightly, probably looking for any reason but most likely found none. "Better safe than sorry," he concluded.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Bill said dismissively, looking for the confirmation email (really, Facebook; no, he did not want to know if there was a fucking party today at 6pm, but thanks- still, those were lots of emails). After finding it, he quickly clicked it. "You know, I'd rather play slither.io."

Pine Tree inmediatedly glared at him, slightly narrowing his eyes as he spoke.

"You made me go through the trouble of making an account for this-this _thing_ , then tell me you wanted to play something else?" He forced himself to calm down, counting to ten, Bill silently laughing and trying his hardest to not smirk. It was funny to see him worked up like this and he enjoyed his lack of offensive words/words that you wouldn't say infront of a two year old.

"Yep."

"...you know what? Let's play slither.io," Pine Tree told him.

"Really?" Bill's eyes lighted up, and he grinned.

Pine Tree nodded, probably faking his annoyance.

"Okay."

It took them more than ten minutes for the both of them to enter the same batch, knowing they were together by checking if the first ten places were the same.

Then it took them a few more minutes to meet each other ( _"Where are you?" "At the top." "Okay..." "...wait, no, I meant bottom!" "BILL I'M ALREADY THERE."_ ).

"You know, I'm still wondering if these are worms, snakes or just doodles with eyes," Bill raised an eyebrow. "They look like worms more than anything."

"Don't you read anything? Below slither.io said 'Don't run into other _snakes_!'", Pine Tree rolled his eyes and moving from one place to another, collecting every single, eh, sparky thing within his reach.

"Oh, so we're snakes," Bill said, longing every 's' in his sentence, and making sure not to run into his friend.

A small snake named "trump" made its way to the place were Bill and Pine Tree were and made sure they both ran into him.

"Damn," Bill hissed. "Well, you owe me a kiss now, either way."

"Yep," Pine Tree told him, blushing,"but you also owe me an answer."

Bill crossed his hands and relaxed into his swiveling seat, "Well, what do ya wanna know?"

"Same question as before, what exactly is going on at your house right now?"

"Same answer as before, Will is making soup and I'm playing with you," Bill closed his eyes as he spoke, and opened them again once he finished his sentence.

"Wait, and your parents?" Pine Tree asked, that being the answer he wanted right now.

"That's another question."

"Yeah, but you lost, so answer."

"I lost once and I answered you once."

Pine Tree groaned (little did Bill know, he was actually quite relieved Bill wasn't awkward around people like him and that this wasn't awkward either).

Bill shrugged in reply. That had been part of the deal, every time he lost he'd answer one question. Just one.

The second time they played, Bill tricked one of the large worms- ehem, snakes into running at him and both he and Pine Tree made sure to collect every single sparkly thingy (did those things have a specific name or something?). He managed to be 2327.7... feet? Meters? Well, either way, his snake was 2327.7 long.

Of course, his bad luck allowed him to crash into an even larger snake.

Of course, Pine Tree ran away. Traitor, too; Pine Traitor.

"You owe me an answer, Cipher," said traitor told him.

"Ask me, then."

"What about your parents?"

"Mom is dead."

"...oh." 

Great, Pine Tree probably pitied him now or something.

"Yeah..." Bill shrugged. He couldn't change the past, now could he? No use fiddling with memories. Especially _those_ kinds of memories. Now that he thought about it, technically, he was living in the past of the future, in the future of the past and in the present. And he had wasted his precious time learning the past, present and future tenses in school. Wait, he wasted time learning time. _Even worse_.

"Wait, what about your dad?" Well, Pine Tree would've had asked sooner or later. He should've had known.

Bill clenched his jaw shut tight, but managed to form a fake smirk.

"You better wait 'til I loose again to know," he told Pine Tree, who glared at him.

"Alright."

The next game, Bill made Pine Tree crash with him and ate all the sparkly, colorful thingies.

"Bill!" Pine Tree frowned. "Why did you do that? It's not fair."

"Everything is fair in love and war," Bill reminded him,"and this probably isn't war by the way. Oh, and you owe me two kisses now."

Pine Tree blushed. _Absolutely adorable_.

"Well then," Pine Tree said as he re-entered the game and made sure to have Bill collide with him.

"Hey!"

"It was you who said everything was fair," Pine Tree grinned.

"More like nothing's fair, either in love, life, nor war."

Pine Tree shrugged. "Well, tell me, what about your father?"

"Oh, he's like this tall," Bill stood up and placed a hand on the air, higher than his head,"and he has hair like mine," he paused thoughtfully," and he has green eyes."

"Bill, we both know that's not what I want to know."

"Yep."

"Then?"

"Okay, okay," Bill, defeated, decided to answer. "Well, he's not always at home so," Bil shrugged. "Besides, when he's here, he's never with us." Okay, so maybe that was somewhat a lie, but he was just omitting some stuff and changing the truth a bit.

"Bill." Pine Tree scowled.

"Never said I'd answer truthfully."

"Okay, then, let's change the deal. Everytime you loose, you'll owe me an answer, and you will answer me with the truth."

"Alright, but then, if you loose, you will owe me two kisses. Deal?"

"Deal," Pine Tree answered without hesitation.

The next two times, Pine Tree lost.

Bill grinned.

He had won four kisses right now. He had won six kisses in a day. Nice.

And the third time, Bill lost (to some weird snake named 'I'm bad at this game' who, in fact, was _not_ bad at that game).

"Well, answer me," Pine Tree paused, at a loss for words,"does your father treat you and Will like a father should?"

As soon as his brain proccesed the question, Bill clenched his fists.

"No," he blurted out, scowling, looking everywhere but at the screen infront of him.

Pine Tree frowned, yet his eyes showed nothing but sympathy and compassion. He seemed like he wanted to talk, to say a hundred words, yet when he opened his mouth no sound came out. He simply closed it after a second, at a loss of what to do know. Gosh, did he make this awkward for both? _Damn it, Dipper_ , his brain scolded him.

"...I'm sorry," Pine Tree admitted. But why?

"What are you sorry for?", Bill snarled.

"I-I," Pine Tree paused, since he had almost apologized again. What exactly would he be sorry for? He almost facepalmed. Bill wouldn't accept any kind of pity, what should he say now? _"I'm sorry I apologized?"_ No...

Pine Tree didn't have time to say a single word before the screen where he could see Bill ended in a fit of black, disappearing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> things get worse 'til they get better, they say
> 
> either way, have a nice day!


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the plot is here, repeat, the plot is here!
> 
> whoever thought this would be a happy, reconciliation chapter was wrong  
> because the _plot is here_

Bill slammed his bedroom's door shut, as he usually did, except this time he did so _angrily_.

Will, even though he was downstairs, heard his brother stomping on the hallways. He quickly assumed that Bill was angry for some reason and that he was probably just going outside or maybe he wanted food? He wasn't sure, but continued stirring the soup anywyas. He knew his brother's stubborness would eventually make people around him leave, but he didn't know who exactly had made his twin angry.

If they were actually able to make Bill _angry_ , then they were an important person to him.

Will knew his brother was, ehem, for the lack of a better word, _complicated_ , almost like a bomb that could explode if you said anything wrong.

Bill Cipher, the same person who had been banned from over thirty different stores; the same person who had threathened to kill several bullies' families if they kept pestering his twin; the same person who wrote his name on their school's Principal's chair; the same person who lost his bus because he had been helping a lost kid; the same person who would rather spend the whole day playing an useless game rather than do something productive; the same person who instead of taking notes in class, draws triangles; the same person who once went to a Starbucks to order a pizza because Floppy Disk told him they sold the best pizzas there.

Oh well, he'd get over whatever had happened sooner or later. Someday. Hopefully. Maybe. Probably not. Who knows?

If this person could make Bill this angry, then they surely could make him just as happy, right?

Will probably should give this person a slight push so everything would be okay again. But, who was this person again? He'd have to ask everyone in the chat if they had made his twin mad, but what if it hadn't been someone from The Cipher Wheel? Maybe it had been some book or some other cartoon (Bill had almost cried when they watched Steven Universe and the little watermelon Steven had been eaten, so it wouldn't surprise him), this was Bill he was talking about; everything was _possible_.

He sighed. He'd probably ask Tad for help after he ate his dinner, he did not spend like half an hour doing nothing.

Ha, he really was Will Sighpher.

He saw his brother sit down on one of the chairs firmly instead of sitting with the usual laziness. He grabbed two bowls and carefully poured the soup onto them, adding a little less vegetables on his brother's bowl and more meat, balancing it by adding more vegetables on his own bowl and less meat, just like he and Bill always did.

Grabbing two spoons as well, Will walked over to the table where his brother sat, being mindful of not spilling anything. He looked at his twin's eyes as he passed him his plate and spoon, silently asking him _what happened now?_ , but Bill stubbornly avoided his gaze, since suddenly the carrot was more important and way too interesting.

Alright, he'd wait until Bill told him, then.

The twins ate their meals in silence, neither of them asking nor admitting anything. The silence spoke for them; " _do you want to talk about it?_ " " _no_ ", and that was all.

If Pine Tree had been the one that made his twin angry, then he could saffely assume they were already bickering like an old married couple and they weren't even married yet.

Or maybe it had been Floppy Disk? If it had, then he didn't need to do anything. Bill and Floppy Disk could solve this by themselves, no need to be helped by someone else. They had been friends for years, and this wasn't their first fight.

He looked at his brother, who seemed to be analizing the noodles as if they were a new deity or maybe they were made of gold, but said nothing, choosing instead to carry his now empty bowl and the spoon to the kitchen to clean them.

Will really hoped this would end soon.

-.

[shooting star] that wasnt faaaaaaair

Mabel typed in her cellphone, her fingers brushing the screen but being careful to not scratch it with her fingernails.

[Floppy Disk] Not our fault you fell off the circuit.

[shooting star] someone pushed me

[shooting star] i know it was one of u

[shooting star] tell me who was it

[llama] be careful next time

[Dipper] yeah, we arent gonna wait for u if u fall

[shooting star] not faaaaaaair

[llama] life isnt fair

[Floppy Disk] Another race?

[shooting star] i think ive had enough mario kart 4 one day

[llama] u just saying that cuz ur a sore looooooser

[shooting star] im not

[llama] yes u r

[Floppy Disk] Well, wanna play another round or not?

[shooting star] ...k

Okay. She really, really liked Mario Kart since she was somewhat more skilled on it rather than Smash, and she had actually won 1st place several times against people in all the world, so she couldn't really say no. Besides, in this game, she had a higher chance of winning than her twin, and that was something rare when it came to videogames.

Wait, were where Bill and Will? She looked at the clock in her bedroom wall, momentarily forgetting that her cellphone and the Wii U provide the hour too, and saw it was pretty late. They usually were online the whole day, sometimes at night too (she'd woken up at 3 am several times and Bill and Dipdop were still online). So, why were they even missing? Last time she had seen Bill online was like seven hours ago, when it was still morning, before her twin had been awake. And Bill did not stay away from the internet more than seven hours. Seriously, the guy usually entered Skype every three hours or so, even if it was the middle of the night, leaving for seven hours would be worse than killing a thousand innocent puppies for him. And she had known him for almost a year now, something must be troubling him, what else could keep him away from his beloved laptop? (really, sometimes she wondered if he prefered his laptop over Tad or something; maybe he did).

[llama] dont u dare choose rainbow curse

[Dipper] its name is actually rainbow road

[Dipper] but u can call it rainbow course*

[Dipper] c o u r s e

[llama] shut up

[llama] its the rainbow curse

[llama] every1 has fallen down atleast like twice there

[Dipper] good point

Well, that was true. Screw Rainbow Road, screw Rainbow Course, it's the Rainbow Curse. How many times had she lost because someone pushed her over the edge or she fell using a mushroom, or she fell just because yes? But still, how many times had she won because she had pushed someone over the edge, or because the others kept falling? Well, that didn't matter.

She almost sighed. The chat seemed almost lifeless without those two. Bill was usually the one who started the chaos and Will would always follow, then Tad would join and eventually there seemed to be a private party in an internet chat, just for them. This time, though, everyone seemed a bit... off. Tad rarely made any comments at all, Dipper seemed to be checking the chat every second, and well, Pacifica just seemed desperate about everything, but that could be normal, since she kept loosing.

Her brother didn't update her on anything that happened anymore, and even if she asked, Dipper would find an excuse to do something else or just ignore her and go back to chatting with Bill. But this time, Bill wasn't even online and Dipper seemed... weird, for lack of a better word. And she suspected something had happened between those two... Yet things didn't add up.

She grabbed the controller once more and relaxed in her bed as she looked at the screen, ready for the next round.

Was there something going on that she didn't know about?

Mabel really hoped that wasn't the case.

-.

[shooting star] paz

[shooting star] paazzz

[shooting star] paaaaaaaaaaaaazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Pacifica glanced over at her phone, and quickly snatched it as soon as she saw it was Mabel. Had something happened? Or was this just some other message about a new painting brush that she wanted (because if that was the case, Pacifica would send it to her house, wrapped in shiny foil and with a ribbon on top, and she wasn't being sarcastic) or was it something else?

[llama] yah?

[shooting star] i just have this feeling in my gut

[shooting star] like somthin bad will happen

Mabel thought that something would happen, just like she did?

That was... unexpected.

Pacifica was usually the only one who actually worried about something that wouldn't affect anyone in the gang at all, since the others were always too busy arguing about rubber ducks to care, and for her, knowing that Mabel, the always happy and nice Mabel, had a bad feeling was saying something. Especially since Pacifica had actually felt like something was on its way, too. 

Knowing that Mabel thought the same, it wasn't as comforting as it should have been.

Instead, it made the feeling heavier than it was, like it wouldn't leave even if she ignored it. And even if it wasn't comforting at all, Pacifica felt relieved that she had someone to lean on.

It just... It wasn't everyday that she felt something like this. Maybe she was developing anxiety or something. Maybe she should see a doctor or something. But maybe it didn't deserve as much importance as she was giving it, maybe tomorrow someone would just type in the chat that they fell down the stairs or that they lost their bag of pretzels or something.

Yep, this feeling would leave. Eventually.

-.

Bill closed his bedroom door shut as he stepped inside. Ugh, it had been his turn to wash the dishes. Good thing Will always respected him when he was angry or something, so this time he was saved, but he'd have to wash them in Will's turn once he "calmed down", just like his twin always told him.

He glared at the floor, not thinking about anything yet his mind wasn't completely blank, either. 

After a few minutes of complete silence, he heard a really loud _thump!_ coming from downstairs, and his senses inmediatedly set on panic mode, because _what_ was happening? Did Will fall down? No, Will wasn't clumsy enough to trip; even if the whole house was full of stuff scattered around the floor, Will wouldn't let himself fall.

He quickly made his way downstairs, ready to yell at Will " _What's going on?!_ ", until he set his eyes on what was infront of him.

Bill wished that he had never gone upstairs in the first place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i really wanted to write in mabel's and pacifica's pov okay? xD  
> i've been leaving everything with cliffhanges, haven't i?   
> well, i'll try to update, hmm, maybe on friday? dunno when i might have time  
> either way, have a nice day!


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i know i said i would probably update on friday sorry ;-;
> 
> but, here it is!  
> plot is technically there  
> but only mabel knows(?)

[shooting star] r u sure u dont know where they r??  
  
[Floppy Disk] Yes, I'm sure. I haven't seen them since yesterday. Why do you ask?  
  
Mabel resisted the urge to buy a bus ticket or something and go to the Cipher's house herself. Really, why didn't Tad know where those two where? Did Bill do something to Dipper and he was hiding? Or maybe he decided he had put up with too much with their shit and finally left? Maybe Will went to a summer school for geniuses and Bill was skulking? Wasn't Tad supposed to look after them? She paused her train of thought and frowned. Wait, no, he wasn't. Now she was starting to blame people for something that couldn't even be important. Maybe Bill just got stuck on a tree or something and Will was trying to help him, and here she was, demanding Tad for answers.   
  
[shooting star] k  
  
[shooting star] thanks anyway  
  
Or maybe they got lost somewhere. Or maybe one of them was in the hospital. Or both. Or maybe they got lost in a hospital.  
  
Mabel closed her eyes and forced herself to think about... unicorns. A tiny smile formed in her lips. Yep, unicorns would always brighten up her day.  
  
[Floppy Disk] No problem.  
  
She opened her eyes again. Okay, all this was okay. Nothing bad happened, nothing bad was happening, nothing bad would happen.  
  
She still couldn't convince herself.  
  
She dropped her smile and sighed, deciding to ask her brother instead. Using Skype, obviously, since he wasn't even home. Maybe he was in the library or something?  
  
[shooting star] broooooobrooo  
  
[shooting star] sir diiiiippiingsaaaauuuuceeee  
  
[shooting star] diiiiipdoooop  
  
[shooting star] diiiiippeeeeeer  
  
[Dipper] yeah?  
  
She decided to ask him directly.  
  
[shooting star] where's bill?  
  
She waited for the answer, whatever it was, but Dipper wasn't answering anything. She started to worry until a few minutes later, he finally replied.  
  
[Dipper] i dontt know  
  
[shooting star] how can u not know??  
  
[shooting star] hes ur boyfriend  
  
[Dipper] he's not!!  
  
[shooting star] he should  
  
Mabel imagined Dipdop was probably blushing bright red like a tomato, but decided to leave him alone and stop teasing him for once. Seriously, she'd write a book named _50 shades of red_ starring Bill and Dipper. She was sure Candy, Grenda, Will and Tad, maybe even Pacifica would all buy it.  
  
She heard the _ding!_ from Skype, meaning there was a new notification. Maybe Bill and Will were finally online? She swore she'd find a way to punch them through the screen if it was those two. Seriously, she had been worrying and Mabel did _not_ worry.  
  
Mabel focused on Skype, and saw she had a friend request(?). Okay. That was...nice? Weird? She didn't know what to think about it. The name of the new person was " _._ ". Yeah, just a dot(?). She accepted it with no hesitation and inmediatedly typed, forgetting all about her brother.  
  
[shooting star] who r u  
  
This was actually getting kinda weird. The person, who she nicknamed _Blank_ for the lack of a name to call them, didn't answer right away. It was almost like they were taking their sweet little time because they wanted her to die in all this angst. Maybe they actually did, and if that was the case, Mabel would track the person down and... what would she do then? Fight them with cats? Well, she always did like cats and cannons. Maybe a cat cannon. Cat blaster. Okay she really needed to focus right now. This wasn't the time to determine what is her weapon of choice, even thought it would definitely involve cute cats. She giggled, that weapon would be _purrfect_. Okay seriously now.  
  
[shooting star] who  
  
[shooting star] r  
  
[shooting star] u  
  
[shooting star] who  
  
[shooting star] r  
  
[shooting star] u  
  
Mabel wasn't sure if she should be spamming right now, but she really wanted to see if this person would actually answer and prove that yes, they were alive enough to type a reply. And if that reply would be anything like "hey i just killed a kitten" or something like "hey gurl wanna play splatoon". Maybe a combination of both, "hey gurl wanna kill kittens in splatoon".   
  
Okay so she had actually been waiting for five minutes but this person seemed to simply not care about her existance- now was the time to actually start spamming.  
  
[shooting star] who  
  
[shooting star] r  
  
[shooting star] u  
  
[shooting star] who  
  
[shooting star] r  
  
[shooting star] u  
  
[shooting star] who  
  
[shooting star] r  
  
[shooting star] u  
  
[shooting star] who  
  
[shooting star] r  
  
[shooting star] u  
  
[shooting star] who  
  
[shooting star] r  
  
[shooting star] u  
  
[shooting star] who  
  
[shooting star] r  
  
[shooting star] u  
  
[.] stop  
  
Her eyes widened. So this wasn't just a bot or something, like some of those bots that created fake accounts to lure you into giving them all your money! Wait maybe he actually was one. She reminded herself to be careful not to give any important or personal information.  
  
[shooting star] who r uuuuu  
  
She glared at the screen. How dare this person _ignore_ her, right after typing something? She could see this person was _online_ , for God's sake! Maybe they weren't smar enough to realize that? Probably they just didn't care, she imagined. Why would someone care if another single person -that could be anywhere in the world and be a kid, or an adult- wanted to know their name?  
  
_Ding!_  
  
She inmediatedly glued her eyes to the screen (with glittery glue, excuse you) and saw this person had sent several pictures.  
  
The first picture was... of a fancy carpet in a hall? Said fancy carpet was yellow, and it seemed kinda dusty. _Whoever owns this carpet should be cleaning it_ , she thought. That's when she noticed. There were stains. On the carpet. They were brown, but seemed kind of... redish, it was probably a coffee stain, she'd definitely understand if this person was in highschool and they needed coffee to survive (she had her Mabel Juice for something, of course). There was a small, wooden table at the side, with a yellow lamp. It seemed _familiar_ to her, but why? She couldn't remember ever having a yellow lamp at her house, they were always rainbow colored-  
  
Her eyes widened in sudden realization.  
  
During all the times she had Skype-called Bill, he _always_ had a lamp _exactly_ the same color, same size, same build, same _everything_  (Will had exactly the same lamp, but in blue, so-).  
  
Bill and Will's carpets were yellow and blue, respectively.  
  
Bill's carpet matched with the one in the picture.  
  
...and maybe, _maybe_ they weren't coffee stains.  
  
Her face paled, but she forced herself to scroll down and see the rest of the pictures.  
  
The next picture was... of Will's room. She was shaking at this point, but she needed to know-  
  
Maybe this was just a prank. Yep, Bill and Will planned this from the start. They created a fake Skype acount, took pictures of the rooms in their mansion, and the stain was definitely fake blood. Yeah, definitely.  
  
The point was that, Will's room was messy. Motherfucking _messy_. He never, ever dared to let anything on the floor, or dust anywhere. But in this picture, books were on the floor, the bed was not done even thought it seemed to be afternoon judging by the light coming from the open windows, and stuff (wait was that a whale plushie) was thrown everywhere -and she supposed it had been done in purpose.  
  
[.] lets play

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ya know, once i really thought about it  
> the tittle "game over, press start" will actually have a deep meaning  
> even tho i didn't originally want it to  
> anyway  
> have a nice day(night, afternoon, er, time?)!


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay i really should have a beta reader  
> but not _any_ beta reader  
>  i need a beta reader that will remind me of writing
> 
> either way, hope you enjoy the chapter!

_This..._  
  
Her hands were still shaking, yet she found herself writing a message in The Cipher Wheel.  
  
[shooting star] guys  
  
[shooting star] floppy disk?  
  
[Dipper] tad isnt online right now  
  
[Dipper] or is he  
  
[Dipper] ????  
  
Okay, she almost grinned or even laughed at Dipper's obvious attempt at a joke (a joke that misserably failed, but she was not going to tell him that).  
  
[shooting star] paz?  
  
[llama] yah?  
  
Mabel just sent them the pictures, and videocalled them, both her brother and her friend momentarily hesitating once they saw said pictures, and neither of them knowing what to say. Just the mere _sight_ of Will's room made her nervous, and she assumed the same could be said about her companions. Will would never, _ever_ let something happen to his room, and it seemed like a tornado just _passed through_.  
  
"W-What is this?" Her twin said, flinching, possibly wondering about what were those pictures and already thinking of possible events that could have led to that. Pacifica just looked pale, concerningly pale, and Mabel assumed that she too knew those weren't coffee stains.  
  
"I... don't know," she admitted, suddenly self-conscious, and she repeated, in a slighter trembling tone, "I don't know."  
  
"W-wait, who took the pictures?" Pacifica asked, her eyes widened in fear.   
  
_Oh, just a lil' friend with no name whatosever -I just call him Blank or Blankie- that I just added on Skype less than half an hour ago._  
  
"I'm not sure..." she looked at the pictures again, searching for something, _anything_. But she hadn't found a single thing before, and the pictures hadn't changed ever since. She reminded herself that yes, she could still hope, because that was what she did best (besides painting and being happy, of course).  
  
They stayed in silence in what seemed forever, each of them thinking by their own, but no one wanting to assume.  
  
"We should probably call Tad..." Dipper got tired of listening to silence, and spoke his opinion.  
  
Both girls nodded, and Dipper skypecalled Tad.   
  
He didn't answer the first call.  
  
Dipper grew worried, and he decided to call him again while Pacifica sent him countless messages with no meaning at all, she just wanted him to answer his phone, or laptop, or computer, or anything. And he videocalled him again, and again, and until Pacifica had sent over fifty messages that were mainly just random letters, he _finally_ answered and at that point Pacifica was almost crying in joy.  
  
"You look like you saw a ghost," was the first thing Tad told them.  
  
_Thanks for the compliment_ , Dipper thought.  
  
"I think it's worse," Mabel managed to say in a firm voice.  
  
"Yeah? How so?" At this point, Tad was confused. He hadn't seen anything yet, had he? Mabel was tempted to print the images and just shove them in his face.  
  
"Just... check the chat?" Pacifica said, a bit unsure. Bill and Will were Tad's best friends, his _childhood_ friends. She had met them a little less than a year ago, and she was worried as fuck. What would Tad's reaction be?  
  
Tad did as he was told, and inmediatedly regretted it. He should've ignored the notifications and stayed outside. Maybe it would've helped.  
  
Mabel explained the current situation when he asked, and she told them every detail.  
  
And right before Mabel could ask Tad if he could please, _please_ go to the Cipher house (cough cough, mansion, cough cough), she heard a _ding!_ and apparently everyone else heard it too. _Curse you, Skype, and your loud notifications._  
  
And her friends seemed pretty set on waiting for her to read the new message, so she did.  
  
It was from Blankie.   
  
She didn't think she wanted to know what it was  
  
[.] a little bit of advice  
  
"A little bit of advice..." She repeated outloud for the others to hear.  
  
[.] if you or one of your friends go to the house  
  
She gulped. "If you or one of your friends go to the house..." The guy left her at a cliffhanger. _Curse him too._  
  
[.] your friends wont make it back alive  
  
"Y-your friends won't make it back alive..." Mabel looked at the others, for moral support or expecting an answer, she wasn't sure, but she still looked eager. Pacifica still seemed pretty worried, Dipper was nervous (awkwardly nervous) and Tad was there, still looking at the picture like his brain still wasn't able to comprehend just yet.  
  
"O-okay, so Tad can't go inside the mansion right now..." Dipper paused thoughtfully and frowned. "Wait, isn't their house _full_ of people, like, _always_?"  
  
Tad's eyes widened. "Yeah..."  
  
"Then... does that mean they're not there?" Mabel asked.  
  
"Maybe something happened to them, too," Pacifica reasoned. And she knew best, since she had a mansion as big as the Cipher's and there were people _everywhere_. There wasn't just some easy way to get them out fast. She almost huffed. Not like they even listened to her or anything (well, they did, but they listened to her _parents_ even _more_ ).  
  
"What are we supposed to do, then?" Dipper asked, looking at everyone for suggestions.  
  
"Blank said they wanted to play," Mabel said, glancing off to the side because the plushie was so amazing isn't it.  
  
"Who said the what now?" Pacifica asked, bewildered.  
  
"Oh," Mabel remembered she was the only one who called the dot person Blankie, and she tried explaining it to them, not using many details.  
  
"Mister Dot sounds better," Dipper told her, but she ignored him (she was way better at naming stuff than him, and even though Mister Dot was a cute name, it was already the name of one of her plushies).  
  
"What do I say now?" Mabel asked, nervous.  
  
"Shouldn't we call the police?" Pacifica tried reasoning with them.  
  
"Blank'll see them coming, they have cameras everywhere in that place," said Tad, not convinced of risking his friends' lives. He looked at Mabel, and told her "...maybe you should try to talk some sense into their head?"  
  
Pacifica huffed. "Yeah, like in those movies were the villains _always_ have a change of heart if they try hard enough."  
  
"It could happen," Dipper told her.  
  
"You should still try to talk to them," Tad wasn't giving up. He wanted this to be peaceful, and he didn't want _anyone_ getting hurt.  
  
"Okay," Mabel agreed, and quickly clicked into her conversation with Blankie.  
  
[shooting star] so uh  
  
[shooting star] hows the weather over there  
  
As she typed, Dipper questioned her, "What are you telling them?", and she shushed him. She knew what she was doing with no problems, after all, she was the most social twin of the two.  
  
[shooting star] do u like cats  
  
[shooting star] what is ur favorite color  
  
[shooting star] do u eat  
  
[shooting star] r u even alive  
  
[shooting star] do u like water  
  
[shooting star] what is the square root of 25  
  
[shooting star] whats ur name  
  
[shooting star] r u a boy,a gurl  
  
[shooting star] or a pokemon center  
  
[shooting star] u seem like a pokemon center 2 me  
  
[shooting star] r u a pokemon center  
  
[shooting star] whats ur favorite ducktective season  
  
[shooting star] do u like skateboarding  
  
[shooting star] r u a fan of death note  
  
[shooting star] have u been on the moon  
  
[shooting star] do u have facebook  
  
[shooting star] r u my homework c  
  
[shooting star] cuz i wanna slam you on my table and do you all night  
  
Okay that was a horrible joke _even_ by her own joke standards but she knew desperate times needed desperate measures.  
  
[shooting star] r u dat boi  
  
[shooting star] do u like muffins  
  
[shooting star] is it true that u work at nasa  
  
[shooting star] do u listen 2 panic at the disco  
  
[shooting star] how have u been lately  
  
[shooting star] are kittens better than puppies  
  
[shooting star] is pluto a planet   
  
[shooting star]r u a skittle  
  
[shooting star] do u like smash  
  
[.] yes  
  
Her eyes widened. Blank had actually answered. She was about to announce that she got the mysteryous person to answer her but she saw her twin was pale (he usually was always pale, but this time even more) so she decided to ask him what was wrong first.  
  
"Dipdop?" Mabel asked.  
  
"Uh... you said this guy's name was o-only a dot, right?" Dipper asked, holding his videogame console in his hands.  
  
"Yeah, why?" She raised an eyebrow.  
  
"The guy sent me an invitation to be my friend on Miiverse," Dipper said, with a wavering voice.  
  
"Wait, what?" Mabel was about to run to her brother's bedroom because that shouldn't even be possible for said guy, but Pacifica interrupted her.  
  
"W-wait, I got one too," Pacifica said, holding her freakinshly clean Gamepad with both hands, gripping on it for dear life. She turned to Tad, "maybe you got one as well?"  
  
"Let me check," and Tad walked, phone in hand, to his bedroom, were his own console was placed away safe from harm (seriously, if anyone thought that Bill sometimes prefered his Wii U over Tad, then it was the opposite: Tad showed that he cared more about his gamepad than Bill), and after waiting a few moments for it to power on, he realized that yes, he too had a new, not-so-friendly-at-all-it-seemed request.  
  
"Should we accept?"  
  
"Accept thea friend request in Miiverse from some random stranger that _broke_ into our friends' mansion and probably brought their _own_ console over there to _play_ with us Shovel Knight while they probably keeps said friends _locked_ away in the basement? _Sure_ , let's accept their _sweet_ friendship," Pacifica deadpanned, and as soon as she started receiving glares from everyone, she quickly apologized and said,"sorry, I got agitated."  
  
They all seemed more or less accepting her apologize, and left it at that.  
  
"Well, this person apparently likes Smash," Mabel clarified.  
  
"They're my soulmate, definitely. Let's bond over our friends' fate, Smash, and a cup of exotic tea from Japan," Pacifica said sarcastically, and soon repeated her apology. Tad only rolled his eyes, not even caring anymore about her sarcasm. He knew she tended to act like that (all snappy and sarcastic) when she was nervous.  
  
"So what if we play with them a couple of times in Smash, then?" Mabel suggested. Sure, she still believed that people could have a change of heart, and Tad was willing to give it a shot, so why not?  
  
"Okay then," Dipper sighed, and raised his hands in the air. "I won't invite them."  
  
"I will," Mabel volunteered.  
  
She eventually managed to get Blankie on a Smash match, and before she could think of asking someone else to join, she got a new message.   
  
[.] just you and me  
  
[.] if you win, i'll let them live for another hour  
  
Her eyes widened for what seemed the hundredth time that day.  
  
[.] if i win  
  
[.] theyll get hurt  
  
She just couldn't bring herself to type a rebellious reply. If she typed a response against that, maybe it would be even _worse_. She figured that much, and wasn't about to risk anyone's lives.  
  
She knew, she really knew they should call the police.  
  
But she also knew that in the place where the twins lived, police was slow. _Real_ slow. It wasn't efficient. It wouldn't work.  
  
Bill and Will would probably be long dead before the police even answered the call.  
  
And if Mabel kept said person amused, then maybe, _maybe_ they'd forget all about Will and Bill.  
  
Maybe, as Tad said, they'd have a change of heart.  
  
Mabel pressed _Ready to fight_.  
  
She hadn't been ready when she added Blank as a friend on Skype, but this time, she'd make sure there would be _no_ consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaah i really wanted to make this 2000 words long  
> but it has 1900 so it's fine by my standards (my standards are real low lemme remind ya)
> 
> have a nice day/night/morning/weekend!
> 
> (ps. about the pokemon center thing.... https://scontent.cdninstagram.com/t51.2885-15/e15/11142114_1077099715639114_1832455231_n.jpg?ig_cache_key=OTY1Mzk2NTAxODgxMDY4MDU3.2 )


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm so sorry i didn't update sooner  
> but this chapter was difficult to write and i had to rewrite it a couple of times  
> so i wanted to make up for it by making the chapter longer  
> it has 3000 words omg
> 
> btw sorry if there are any typos
> 
> well, enjoy!

There was a calm atmosphere in the kitchen, anyone inside could've been unaware of the events taking place on the other rooms of the mansion.

The girl wearing her favorite pink heels stood with her head held high, and grabbed a Pit Cola (ha, the name itself would _always_ make her crack a grin because it was _hilarious_ ) from the fridge, for several reasons, one: because the fridge was _huge_ as heck, two: because she _could_ , and three: she didn't know _when_ she would have the chance to do so again.

She quickly reviewed the contents of the fridge (no _kidding_ , it was the _biggest_ fridge she'd ever seen and she'd be _damned_ if she said the fridge was empty, because it was full to the point where if she placed a chicken inside it'd most likely _explode_ and she was doing a favor to the owner according to herself -maybe she could try to _actually_ place a living chicken inside later) and she soon realized most of the food inside was exotic and a kilogram of said food was probably worth _several_ times what she paid for the outfit she was wearing- not that what she wore was worth anything at all since it was kind of old at this point, but in all of its former glory she had paid a lot for it.

Either way, she grabbed fruits and the cold leftovers from a pizza. Why was there a pizza when the owner of this place had enough servants that could cook any meal was beyond her understanding of the things happening around her, but she was grateful for it, because she really could eat a pizza or two right now. She vaguely remembered she had no breakfast that morning, and opted to grab an apple as well. It'd be alright as long as whatever she had grabbed was edible. Really, there were people who bough apples made of who-knows-what for decoration purposes and she had actually _bit_ one of those, and it tasted _horrible_. She hadn't been able to take the flavor from her mouth _until_ she had brushed her teeth a couple of times. She shuddered at the memory.

She gulped down the can, emptying it, her strands of hair she had dyed magenta falling at the sides of her head. She hadn't properly brushed her hair in a while, but it was something that could wait. Right now, eating something was on the top of her priorities list.

In a matter of minutes no food was on the table anymore, and she was left wondering if Keyhole would be alright.

Sure, the others had left because they thought he would be just fine on his own, but she knew better, she knew not to trust him with something like this.

She stretched her arms, fully knowing that she had only stayed more time, not because she cared about whatever could happen, but because the place was big enough to get lost inside even after years of knowing the path to every room.

Pyronica opened the window and jumped outside. 

She sent a quick text reminding her friend to clean all of the Ciphers' injuries. After all, they couldn't die out of blood loss before they even started.

Keyhole could perfectly deal with the consecuences of whatever happened there by himself.

-.

'Blankie' was a stupid name that came from stupid people.

Or at least that was what Keyhole decided as he took a break (seriously, this Shooting Star had won against him a couple of times now and he feared he was loosing his dignity).

Yeah, his friends and allies might call him Keyhole, but that was not his name, it was some sort of codename for trusted people. Just like Pyronica, 8 Ball, Hectorgon, and the others. It was merely some sort of name-thingie to call others without having to use their real names. Besides, their codenames had meanings.

His own nickname, Keyhole, came from the fact that he can basically find a way to break into a house and open any door. It was an useful skill he had developed during the years, and he had to admit, it would always come in handy. Like now, how would he and his friends have entered without him? They would have probably set on an alarm or something, maybe a servant could've seen them and called the police, but with him, it was easier.

He knew that Pyronica was a mix between her real name and the fact that she basically was a pyromaniac. Seriously, you could ask her for a match or for a fire anywhere at anytime and she'd set everything in fire. That was what she did best, and her nickname became Pyronica.

His phone buzzed.

He snatched it from the table and looked at it. A message from Pyronica. To not forget to bandage the Ciphers so they wouldn't die out of blood loss. Nice, he always got the weirdest jobs to do.

Keyhole had to open at least 9 doors (he counted them so he wouldn't get lost) until he finally found what seemed like a guest room with a bathroom. The fact that it had a bathroom meant it _must_ have a first aid kit or something similar, right? His suspicions were proven right as he found one in a cabinet inside the room, and he carried it back.

He saw the twins, both of them unconscious on a bed, with their hands tied on their backs so they wouldn't dare wake up and immediately try anything funny.

Will Cipher didn't look that bad. Sure, said kid might have a slight concussion, but nothing too important that would need medical assistance from a doctor or something. He had a few cuts here and there (some bleeding), and it wasn't that difficult to clean them, especially when the kid was asleep. Even if he had been awake, who would deny medical attention?

There was a slight problem, though.

The Boss had thought it'd be _funny_ to rip out Bill's right eye. Rip out an _eye_ , for God's sake. He vaguely shuddered at the memory.

And just for the shit and giggles, they had ripped out Will's left eye too. It had been mildly disgusting experience that he'd very much like to _forget_ all about. _Poor guys_ , he thought, but he wasn't sincere at all.

At least the Boss had known what they had been doing and stopped the blood from coming out, they hadn't wanted to stain the expensive covers because _money_.

Not that Keyhole cared.

But it would have been definitely a difficult job if he had been assigned to take care of weird wounds he had no intention of taking care of.

Bill Cipher had been the one putting a fight. He was covered in bruises that didn't look they'd heal nicely, and Keyhole decided he didn't want to look to his missing right eye anymore, so he just place a small cloth on his head, and for Will, well, he just moved his bangs so they would cover it. Better.

He took a good look at both. The 'tattoos', as his Boss called them, that covered both twins from head to toe actually had meanings, and the task of drawing or whatever Pyronica did to get them had been assigned to her. Really, he wasn't even sure if she had just burned them or drawn them with ink or anything, they just seemed to appear out of nowhere. It was kind of creepy but he didn't dare to question Boss about it.

Orders were orders, after all.

He would follow them without question.

He gave a quick glance to the laptop on the small table a few meters away from him. The girl kept sending him weird messages, even asked if he would rather eat toothpaste or glitter, or both. He just concluded the girl herself was weird and there was nothing to worry about.

Still, that girl was _definitely_ something. She didn't give up and her attacks were completely _unpredictable_ and she had won against _him_. Keyhole was probably the best one at videogames in his group of friends, and he said probably only because he didn't know exactly if the others had veen touched a videogame console in their whole lives.

[shooting star] ur hotter than the bottom of my laptop

[shooting star] and thats sayin something

[shooting star] human beings in a mob

[shooting star] can u continue it pls

[shooting star] squirrels are just rats with weird tails and bigger teeth

[shooting star] can u imagine if birds had arms too

[shooting star] so what school r u in

[shooting star] what even is ur name

[shooting star] okay since u didnt answer imma still call u blankie

[shooting star] do u like blank space 

[shooting star] iVE GOT A BLANK SPACE BABY AND ILL WRITE UR NAME

[shooting star] im no organ donor but id be happy 2 give u my heart <33

[shooting star] im not the damsel in distress

[shooting star] im not ur gf or the frightened princess

[shooting star] im not a lil bird who needs ur help 2 fly

[shooting star] nope

[shooting star] im the bad guy

[shooting star] okay do u even like anything at all

[shooting star] u sure ur a human

[shooting star] do u like tacos

Keyhole burst out laughing.

He admired the girl's abilities to try to get the answers outta him.

But it was no use.

He knew when he had to keep quiet.

It would always be fun, though, to read whatever he could during the time he had nothing to do.

He kept reading the messages, because they were just funny as heck, and he actually started to _like_ this girl's personality. There was just somthing about it, something _weird_. And God help him if he didn't like anything weird.

[shooting star] can u feel the sunshine

[shooting star] what is the half of 2 + 2

[shooting star] jeeeellyyyyy beeeeaaaaans

[shooting star] peanut butter jelly time

[shooting star] who r u voting 4

[shooting star] here comes dat boi

[shooting star] ... u know, ur supposed 2 say

[shooting star] o shit waddup

[shooting star] ...

[shooting star] r u a square

[shooting star] ur a kid

[shooting star] ur a squid

[shooting star] 1-900-490-FREAK

[shooting star] call now

He quickly glanced at the hour on the corner of the laptop. It was getting late. He should probably find a place to sleep on... and he'd be concerned by that if he were not in a mansion full of rooms and comfortable, soft, and ridiculously expensive beds everywhere. He frowned. This was the first time he had been in a place as big as this, and he really hoped it wouldn't be the last. It was no hotel but he definitely had enjoyed his stay here so far.

Keyhole didn't realize he had closed his eyes until he fell asleep.

-.

Dipper never knew that he cared this much about Bill and Will until he knew he could loose them.

He relied on the thought that Tad was planning something to help them at the moment, and he knew that Tad was the best at this kind of stuff.

But seriously, since when did he start to care?

Was it when he first texted Bill? When he videocalled him? When they started talking to each other non-stop for hours? When they played in a friendly-yet-competitive manner? 

The most important thing, however, was

since when was Bill so important to him? 

He hadn't realized he had been chewing on his shirt. Again. Ew, it was full of saliva now. It was a disgusting habit of his but he just couldn't stop doing it. He just assumed it'd be gone someday or he'd stay with it forever, and he didn't mind either way at all. He had actually ripped appart several shirts from way too much chewing on them but he could always use another one or ask Mabel to knit him a new one. Maybe she could repair it as well. He tried to clean it with his hands but it was no use. 

Pacifica had left to get some breaths of fresh air a few minutes ago and hadn't returned yet, maybe it was a long way from whatever room she had been in to the patio or a balcony. Who knew.

Mabel had gone uncharacteristically quiet and it was sort of disturbing because there just was no way to shut her up, and Dipper wished for the first time in his life that Mabel would start talking about that bird she saw on her way to school or about that new drawing she found on the internet. 

Dipper looked at the glass full of Mabel Juice at his right side. His twin had dropped by not too long ago with two glasses, offering him one, and even when he had rejected it, she placed it on his desk. This time, the juice was of a strange, almost transparent orange color, and it was full of glitter. There were a few cherries here and there, a tiny umbrella for decoration, a racecar (he recognized it), a pasta noodle and a pepperoni. He grimaced and looked at the screen again. There was basically _no_ way in hell he was drinking _that_ (Mabel had some guts to be able to drink a _whole_ jar of it).

He sighed. He wished he could help, but then, what could he do?

For the last half an hour, he had been sitting there for moral support because it was important at times like this, he kept telling himself.

Dipper heard loud typing, almost like Mabel wanted to type as fast as... as fast as possible, or maybe she just got fed up with her old laptop and wanted to break it in half so she could get a new one. Both options were evenly matched and possible. He would ask what exactly she was typing but then again, he didn't want to know at all, and he was just getting nervous as seconds ticked by.

He felt like he had been sitting in that chair forever, but how long had it been? Maybe an hour, maybe more, maybe less? Keeping track of time hadn't exactly been on his top priorities right now (as usual), and he suddenly regretted not doing so, because he also wanted to know when he had last eaten anything (it had been hours too, probably).

He had known something was up when Mabel had actually been _concerned_. And he had prepared himself for whatever Mabel's news were, but he hadn't expected this. Maybe something among the lines of, 'hey, look, bill just broke his twin's leg' or even 'bill got bit by a lion but he alright'. Well, maybe not exactly that, but something similar.

He grabbed his phone and searched any game he could fin, and settled on some sort of small videogame that you didn't even really need to focus on (of course he still lost every five seconds). The sound of his own fingers tapping the screen somewhat comforted him.

"Guys, Blankie isn't answering," his twin suddenly called, and he stopped the game mid-play.

"Maybe he's asleep?" Pacifica asked as she returned to sitting infront of her fancy computer, looking just as nervous as Dipper was.

He wouldn't be surprised if he developed some sort of anxiety.

"Maybe he got bored," he supplied, holding a breath because he knew Mabel would yell at him (he had never been too optimistic, Mabel was there for that). He just couldn't help himself, he was (and would always be) the pessimist of the group. He and Mabel were balanced, he relied on valid arguments and logic to solve problems, and Mabel based everything in hope and happiness and who-knows-else, and Dipper was kinda thankful for that. Once Mabel glared at him, he returned his attention to the game.

"Maybe it's a good time to call the police?" Pacifica once again asked, fiddling her fingers.

Mabel sort-of looked like she was ready to pick up her phone and dial the police of whatever place Bill lived in but she held back, and turned to talk to Tad.

"Is it a good time to do that?"

"Only if Blankie actually fell asleep," was Tad's reply, and Dipper noticed that Tad too was looking ready to jump outside and run to the mansion any second now. Maybe he would actually do so. "I could try and go inside to see if he's awake."

"I don't think that's a good idea," Dipper told him, a serious look on his face. "What if he isn't asleep?"

"And what if he is?" Mabel tilted her head to the side. "We won't find out if we stay like this."

He sighed. "Then at least call the cops or something, no need for Tad to go, 'specially alone." He yawned. He really should've slept instead of playing Splatoon all night (he was still being haunted by _you're a kid, you're a squid_ ), but it was too late for regrets.

Everyone nodded their agreements.

He slightly wondered what would Soos think if he had been there. What would Wendy think (he had his suspicions that she'd risk everything just for a small chance of winning, but there was no way to be sure).

Tad dialed the number on his phone, momentarily leaving the room.

And when he came back no more than ten minutes later, he said the police were already there.

-.

Everything had been a blur from that on.

Dipper managed to catch glimpses and pieces of what was going on, but he gave up when nobody answered his questions.

He knew that the police managed to find a single person inside the house that didn't belong there, but there had been signs of several other people.

The servants had been locked in a room.

Bill and Will had been found in another room.

But then Tad just left because he had wanted to go with the twins but he didn't quite catch where he said he was heading to.

He promised himself he'd ask what happened next time Tad went online.

The only problem was, that Tad didn't connect once in a whole week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yep, this probably could be a lot sadder than i expected  
> or ansgty  
> who knows.
> 
> either way,  
> have a nice day!


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay, got a few things to say here (it's mostly sorry, but yeah)  
> #1- i'm really sorry for the late chapters; right now i've been trying to connect all the ideas i have for future chapters together and it's kinda complicated but i'm still trying//  
> #2 i'm also really sorry for this kinda short chapter, i mean, it was gonna be larger, but then again, even if i used more words, the message would be the same, right? so i left it like not-so-short-but-not-exactly-a-giant-either//  
> #3 i'm sorry for not answering anything either ;-; finals are starting soon and i'm being bombarded with homework and proyects and i'm even doing a play(??) in a week and well, i think you get it (btw, i'm gonna reply as soon as i post the chapter)  
> #4 i'm gonna start to kinda half write the next chapters so that i can do them from scrap and not entirely new, and i think that way chapters are gonna be easier to write(??? i don't even know i'm just trying and that's all)

 

He heard a sound that was suspiciously akin to people moving around coming from his left, startling him awake.

_...the fuck is that?_

Bill woke up groggily, yet he was still half-asleep, like every morning. He didn't even bother to open his eyes; w _hat does Will want now?_

There was something wrong, he knew. There was something missing. But what...?

His eyes opened and instantly widened. Oh. How could he even forget that?

He tried to locate himself. Well, the walls were a weird white, 

_this isn't my room_

and there was a small TV on the wall. He soon realized he was in a hospital, and his first though about being there was,

_where's Will_

He blinked his eye a few times, still adjusting to the light in the room. Surely you'd think that a nurse would be kind enough to leave the lights off when the patient is there so they wouldn't have trouble seeing once they awoke, but no... wait a second. He just blinked his _eye_.

_Singular._

Bill's right hand inmediatedly reached to his right eye, or the place where it should be at least. He felt a small cloth-like think placed around it. He had been bandaged and said bandages might have blood on them. 

He grimaced. 

Such a nice way to start a new day.

He ran his hand through his hair a couple times, and the result was evident: the bangs completely covered his not-eye.

At least he could do better pirate jokes now, he guessed.

He waited impatiently for someone, _anyone_ , to enter his room and tell him _what the fuck is going on_.

You'd also think it'd be like a movie, the patient is now awake by some sort of miracle and people are all around said patient with beautiful lady nurses, but it probably couldn't be further from the truth. 

So, he probably should call a nurse now.

But he still hated to have people all around him checking him in places he'd rather not, so he just picked the TV remote from the little bedside table _bedsides_ (ha, wasn't he the best at jokes or what) him and just played some random channel. That would keep him entertained, at least.

Bill's attention wasn't entirely on the TV show, instead, he was wondering what he should do now.

Return home with the risk of having one of those people finding him again? Or maybe move into a little town in Australia under the name Guillermo Decipher? 

He giggled at his own cleverness. _Guillermo and Wilky, the Decipher twins...I'm a genius._

Seriously though, he would be inmediatedly found if he just changed a few letters. Maybe Guillermo and Wilky Binary. Perfect name. He was having a mental debate whether he should actually change his name or not. He had become rather fond of his actual name during the years.

He heard a knock coming from the door.

"Come in!" he called out, hoping it'd be Will or a nurse or maybe even Floppy Disk.

Whoever was in the door probably didn't expect him to be actually awake, and hesitated a second before entering.

There stood a nurse, Floppy Disk trailing behind her like a _dork_ ling following his mother (see, he could actually make good jokes from time to time, not like those humorless jokes Floppy Disk would always tell) and holding two bags of cookies, leaving one on the table beside Bill.

"Bill! You're awake!" 

"Nah, I'm completely sleeping and having a dream about you, plus my name is now Guillermo," he said, with an obvious hint of sarcasm. "Guillermo Caesar."

Floppy Disk rolled his eyes, while the nurse simply ignored the small exchange of words and procceded to check who-knows-what at Bill's left side, asking him how he was feeling and all those silly questions all nurses and doctors tend to ask every time you go to the hospital. Did they ever get tired of asking the same questions everyday? The nurse soon left, saying something about bringing a doctor later and blah blah blah.

"So, where's Will?"

"Oh, he's got his own room. Just a wall away from you," Floppy Disk answered and tapped the wall behind him. "How lucky," he huffed sarcastically.

"Pfft, not everyone is lucky enough to even catch a glimpse of me," Bill smirked and did a hair flip in response, winking.

Floppy Disk shot him a look that definitely meant something similar to a threat. _Oh wow. So scary._

"You wouldn't dare to hurt the poor, sick boy in a hospital, would ya?" 

"I'd try."

"No, you wouldn't."

"Okay, no I wouldn't."

"...now what? Isn't this the part where I'm told I survived because of a miracle and now have superpowers?" Bill joked.

"Oh, how could I ever forget?" Floppy Disk practically floored with sarcasm. "Of course, you were about to die when suddenly, a spid-, a bee stung you and now, we think you may have gotten bee powers."

"Bee powers? Like what?" Bill asked, geniunly curious about what would Tad answer.

"Polinizing flowers, of course, and dying once you sting someone on your own. Oh and also being able to easily die." Tad gathered his thoughts. "And becoming irritated once someone touches you, but I'm pretty sure that's already normal." _Ouch._

"Oh, snap! Whatever shall I do with my powers?" Bill pretended to be in deep thought, his features suddenly brightening as he spoke again. "Now, I know! I shall fight for the evil, and defeat the good!"

"Haha," Floppy Disk deadpanned. "No."

Bill pouted and mumbled something that probably sounded like "you're no fun".

"So, I'm checking up on Will now, okay?" Bill nodded. "Try not to wake the other patients."

"No promises," he sent a smirk in Tad's way.

And with that, Floppy Disk left so he could basically move a few steps to enter the room infront of Bill's. _How convenient._

-.

Will heard a door shuting a few meters away from him, and carefully woke up. He groaned. _Bill?_

He opened his eye to look around-

_my eye_

and was completely ready to freak out when Tad entered his room, holding a bag of cookies, and interrupting him from his quiet panicking.

"Will! You're also awake," Tad said, and sat down on the slightly worn-out couch at the corner. Will could feel that Tad was practically waiting for some sort of joke or sarcasm (the sarcasm _and_ bad sense of humor ran deeply in his family's veins, he couldn't help it).

So he just did exactly the contrary of a joke, and stared right into Tad's soul with an unreadable expression. And still silently drowning in anxiousness. He badly wanted to reach out and feel whatever now was in the place where his left eye should be. He wondered if he could stick a finger inside someone's empty eyesocket. It'd probably be rude, wouldn't it. Tad seemed to shift nervously, maybe he was staring too much.

"I brought cookies," Tad gestured to the bad of cookies that were now being placed at his bedside, probably to break the awkwardness in the room. Probably, most likely, it was the same.

_Please tell me they're cinnamon rolled cookies._

"They're cinnamon rolled," and wasn't Tad now a mind reader or what? Seriously, this man deserved more than he got. Will guessed Tad brought his twin a bag of cookies as well, right? It seemed like Tad would probably be a good father someday. Only if he ever dared to date someone, that is (he couldn't recall a single time he'd seen Tad on a date).

Will easily reached the bag of cookies and yanked it open (much to his dismay, he tore the bad a little bit more open than he should have, but as long as he didn't break all of it it would be alright), inmediatedly grabbing one and munching on it mindlessly, while gesturing for Tad to continue.

"I guess you want me to tell you what happened, right?"

Will nodded, still nibbling happily on his cookie. Tad probably hadn't noticed that Will was still slightly panicking, but he guessed it was kind of alright. 

"Well, Mabel somehow kept the guy entertained while I called for the police," Tad paused. "Apparently said guy fell asleep."

Wait.

He remembered there had been more than just a single person. Had they escaped? Oh well.

"So, when the police enter, they find you and Bill in one of the rooms," Will had been tempted to ask _which one?_ just to annoy Tad, but that was Bill's job and Tad already looked annoyed when he came in. "And you came to the hospital."

Tad sucked at telling events.

And that was probably all the information he'd be getting, but maybe it was enough. For now.

Eventually, Tad had to leave home, as visiting hours were over (if he insisted long enough the nurses would have left Tad stay, but there was only so much socializing -he meant talking to the person infront of you, not internet- he could take in one day).

He looked around his hospital room (the walls were _so white_ and it all smelled _so clean_ it almost made him _sick_ ) and he regretted not asking for his phone or laptop, or even Bill's phone (he knew his twin's phone password, and only that one -his usual passwords were all confusing), or _anything_ for that matter.

He couldn't remember many things from whatever had happened on his house.

He had heard some rather unsettling noises, gone to investigate, then he remembered a few voices and then everything was blurred. 

But he remembered there had been several people.

One of them had been scarier than the rest.

Will couldn't help but wonder if he'd ever see said person again.

-.

Bill woke up from his slumber, opening his eye and staring at the ceiling.

_Guillermo Binary the Bee man._ Bee _nary. The_ bee _nary man._

He laughed for five minutes straight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> any normal person would apologize  
> but i'm pretty sure guillermo beenary won't
> 
> ha, i just can't seem to write angs or anything. i'd rather write fluff and happy things, so i'm mixing those stuff together and they kinda formed into whatever i'm writing. oh well
> 
> either way,  
> have a nice day! and good luck on whatever you're doing!  
> and just be happy overall!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i just kinda have no words right now  
> all of them are in the chaptter below
> 
> (btw, you were expecting something, right? welllllllll.... gravity falls isnt called gravity falls because gravity causes things to fall, but because its the name of a place that doesnt exist, the _place where two twins spend their summer in_ haha im a bad person i know )

_Happy mind, happy life_ , thought Mabel to herself as she entered the chat on the first day on what would be Tad and the Ciphers' week-long 'disappearance'.  
  
[shooting star] so uh dipdop  
  
[shooting star] got any ideas on where do u want ur and bills honeymoon  
  
[Dipper] mabel no  
  
[shooting star] btw the sweaters r finished  
  
[shooting star] im keeping urs so u dont loose it  
  
[Candy&Grenda] oh yeah, i forgot to mention  
  
[Candy&Grenda] grenda's boyfriend could take us all to austria and the wedding could be there  
  
[Dipper] pls not u too  
  
[Candy&Grenda] there is no use trying to delay the inevitable  
  
[shooting star] wise words being spoken by a wise woman  
  
After that last text, everyone had just sort of did small talk ('how was your day', 'what did you eat'), but it seemed  _strained_.  
  
Mabel really wished she knew what was wrong.  
  
-.  
  
_Another day, another chance_ , was Pacifica's mantra for, well, mostly  _everything_.  
  
The second day that Tad wouldn't show up and neither would the other pair of twins, Pacifica tried to engage the others in a Mario Kart race, because really, it seemed  _forever_ since they'd last done something together and she wouldn't dare to say it aloud, but she kinda missed it. Kinda. Her grip on the water bottle she was currently holding tightened as she typed.  
  
[llama] guyzzz  
  
[llama] is every1 still asleep or what  
  
[shooting star] ive been awake 4 a couple of hours  
  
[Dipper] im now awake  
  
[Dipper] thank u mabel  
  
[shooting star] ur welcome  
  
[Candy] i'm awake too  
  
[Dipper] isnt grenda here or what  
  
[Candy] no  
  
[llama] so u guys up 4 a mario kart race or what  
  
Everyone ignored her last text and moved on to another topic, forgetting completely.  
  
At least she could say she had tried.  
  
-.  
  
_Life can be easy and we're the ones who complicate it_ , Dipper repeated to himself as he sent another couple dozen (maybe hundred) messages, all directed to either Tad, or Bill, or Will.  
  
No one seemed to answer, and a hundred questions went through his mind at once.  
  
_Are they okay?_  
  
Where are they?  
  
Did they forget about us?  
  
Are they in the hospital?  
  
Do they need help?  
  
Getting answers was never as easy as making questios, though, but he tried.  
  
His sister had insisted on not blocking or eliminating Blankie, and her reason had been ' _maybe it could be useful someday_ ', but he wasn't sure what she meant by useful. Not at all. How in the world could some weird guy with no name (Blankie most likely had a name, but nobody knew what his name actually was, so in some sort of way he did not have one) help in anything?  
  
Heck, the guy never answered anything when Mabel messaged him.  
  
But Mabel had insisted, and who was he to deny his (older) twin anything?  
  
Either way, with recent events and all, he was pretty sure he'd have some sort of anxiety now or at least feel traumatized for a couple of days. Probably.  
  
He sighed.  
  
Maybe Bill just didn't have his phone with him. Surely he had a perfectly reasonable excuse as to why he didn't answer anything and he'd be back soon and everyone would forget about whatever happened, almost like going back in time.  
  
Maybe that was why Mabel liked making photo albums so much.  
  
He was seriously tempted to go back into his normal routine: wake up, go to school, talk to Mabel, return home, play a videogame, go back to bed and repeat the cycle. That way he wouldn't have to worry, right? No matter what he did, friends would always eventually leave, so why bother keeping up with them? And then his sister had to go around, making new friends and inviting him into a life of eternal worry and anxiety over the well-being of others. Perfect.  
  
He wished they'd at least answer, though.  
  
He sent another message to Bill.  
  
The 'evil dorito' always had his phone on his hand, apparently, and would never miss a text, so what was keeping him from answering his phone? Had he gotten tired of having to speak and listen to him? That was a possibility, and he wouldn't count it out.  
  
After all, it was basically on human nature to 'befriend' people, manipulate them to get what you want, and once you've got whatever you wish, then you leave. Easy-peasy.  
  
And while Bill seemed like the type of person who'd probably kill another if the situation demanded it, Tad didn't. Tad was more of a 'hey look at me i'mma be your friend forever but i'm going to mother you too at the same time and look here have some bread'.   
  
Well, he wasn't that sure about Will though... Really, the guy could be so chill one moment and the next, he looked like he'd go on a murdering rampage. Dipper slightly wondered if that was a trait that everyone in the Cipher family had or if it was just a thing for Bill and Will only. Maybe it was just a trait, part of the heritage. Maybe Will was just the opposite of Bill.   
  
Either way, he was sure he'd remember to check if anyone else was online later.  
  
Right now, his Pokemon demanded attention.  
  
-.  
  
Bill grabbed a spoon of his... whatever kind of soup was inside the bowl he had been given and looked at it anxiously.   
  
He carefully sniffed it. And he immediately pulled away.  
  
Ew, it didn't smell nice at all.  
  
Couldn't it be easier to tell Tad to stop by at iHOP or even McDonald's and buy him something just to bring it the next time he came? Why did he even have to eat this, it could be poisoned and he'd only know after it was too late.  
  
It practically seemed like someone had dropped a definitely-not-clean rag on the bowl and probably dumped a shoe or something. Seriously, he felt tempted to just stand up, go to his brother's own room... and send him to the nearest fast food restaurant with a couple of bills. Ha,  _Bills_.   
  
Bill looked at his used-to-be phone. It was cracked and it didn't even turn on, no matter how much times he pressed the same button. His poor, poor phone. Whoever had done this to his phone would definitely have to face him.

 

Speaking about that, he found out his twin’s phone was in a similar condition, except Will’s phone wasn’t cracked anywhere, it just didn’t work. Lucky Will. Always managed to get the best out of a bad situation.

 

He dropped the spoon he had been holding into the bowl and placed the bowl as far away as possible. He could just say he wasn’t hungry or something, and the nurses would have to eventually leave him alone, yes?

 

Maybe if he got a pair of clothes on instead of the hospital gown he was currently wearing, he’d be allowed to go outside and buy himself real food, and he wouldn’t have to eat the food that seemed to taste like plastic and cardboard.

 

And if he was being too selfish, he’d just bring something for Will as well. Sure, got the perfect plan, let’s put it in action now.

Bill stood up from his bed, throwing the cold, alarmingly white blankets away, and walked over to the bathroom. Said little bathroom had a small closet with enough space to keep stuff, and he still had the clothes he had been sent to the hospital with.

 

Closing the door behind him, he quickly changed his clothing.

 

After a few minutes of struggling with his shirt, he finally looked in the mirror. Okay, so maybe his hair was a bit too messy, maybe he still looked as pale as his twin did, maybe he had a few bruises and bloody bandages but overall he seemed just _fine_.

 

Yep, fine was the best word for this right now.

 

He opened the door of his hospital room, and making sure no nurses where in the nearby area, he kicked open the other door just at his side.

 

-.

 

Will stared at the food he had been given long enough, and he was starting to have serious thoughts about how the food could be staring at him back.

 

Until the door just a few meters away from him was kicked open,

 

_what in the f-_

revealing his twin, none other than Bill Cipher. Well, at least it wasn’t a stranger that kicked doors open for fun, he guessed, but it still was kinda rude.

 

He looked up, and his twin just went inside the bathroom. Guessing he probably had some sort of plan going on, Will resumed his earlier activity of staring at the food, hoping it would eventually grow legs and leave his room so he wouldn’t have to eat it.

 

Then Bill threw him a pair of clothes, a light blue hoodie, a pair of dark blue pants, and some sneakers. The same clothes he first entered this unable-to-cook-edible-food hospital. He waited until his twin removed himself from the door to the bathroom before standing up himself and entering, closing the door in his brother’s face.

 

-.

 

Bill patiently waited for his twin to come out, looking at the window. It was a nice day outside, a nice day to temporally escape a hospital to eat proper nourishment and then come back before anyone notices.

 

Will eventually came out, being the faster one at changing clothes of the two of them, and they started walking, Bill leading the way.

 

Just as they got in a corner, Bill hurriedly checked both sides of the hallway before nodding and continuing to… do whatever he was doing.

 

They were almost getting to the stairs before Bill suddenly yanked his arm and dragged him to a nearby bench, quickly grabbing a magazine and pretending to be reading a story about a dolphin. _Just in time_ , Will thought as he saw a couple of nurses chatting among each other, walking through the hallway.

 

As soon as they left, their plan came back into action (even though Will wouldn’t call it a plan, since he actually had no idea what they were doing: he was just rolling with it), and they were both moving again.

 

The receptionists didn’t look at them twice, and soon enough they were breathing fresh air again.

 

Will tilted his head and frowned, silently asking, _now what?_

 

Bill shrugged, and smirked. “We can do anything we want.”

 

-.

 

After almost half an hour of roaming aimlessly, Bill pointed at a grocery store, pulling his twin and himself both inside (the younger twin immediately gasping at the sudden movement). He looked around, searching for shopping carts, but there were all full of garbage (and he felt disgusted by the people who left the carts like that), and so they waited impatiently for minutes.

 

A woman with a small child saw them both, and asked them for help to unload the food she had shopped to her car. Bill helped her, seeing it would be an opportunity for them to finally get a shopping cart (and by Will’s insistence).

 

The woman thanked the twins for their help, leaving the shopping cart abandoned nearby, and Bill ran towards it, Will following close behind.

 

Apparently, fate was on their side today.

 

Bill pushed the cart back inside the store and motioned for Will to start dropping any kind of food on it, encouraging his twin to grab whatever they found. And to think that they had thought they were supposed to eat the hospital ‘food’.

 

_Ha, screw you, hospitals._

 

They got a bit of everything they could ever need.

 

Candies? Yep.

 

Fries? Got ‘em.

 

Ice cream? Definitely.

 

Any kind of junk food they find? Obviously.

 

 _Will is even grabbing every Flamin’ Hot bag we find_ , Bill thought as he smirked in a self-satisfied way. _I see I’ve taught him well_.

 

The cashier had sent them both weird looks as he scanned the food, probably wondering why the hell would two teenagers (who had bloody bandages on their foreheads and looked awfully similar) be buying an unexplainable amount of junk food? There was no reason he could think of, so the cashier just stopped thinking altogether and focused on doing his job.

 

By the end of their short trip (during which Will sternly insisted they did not cause trouble), they had several bags full of sugary, spicy and salty junk food.

 

Such a perfect way to avoid eating hospital meals.

 

-.

 

Just like earlier, no receptionist looked at them, too focused on whatever they were doing that they didn’t notice the pair of twins (who also were patients for the time being) enter with a couple of bags.

 

And before you could say Shmebulock, both brothers were back in Will’s room, dividing the ‘groceries’ they had bought.

 

Surely if Bill could hide a few candies for himself, Will could do the same.

 

“Maybe we should’ve bought a new cellphone too,” Bill said as an afterthought.

 

Will shrugged. Not like they needed one right now.

 

“Do you think Tad will lend us his?”

Will shrugged again. He wasn’t a fortune teller or something.

 

“And if we steal it, then?”

 

-.

 

“And no, you can’t leave the room without a nurse,” Tad added to his scolding, glaring at Bill. “That’s why I can’t even leave you two alone for less than two hours. You just find a way or another to create absolute chaos.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” the blonde said dismissively. “I won’t do it again, blah blah blah, I’m so sorry, blah blah blah.”

 

Tad rolled his eyes.

 

“Okay, I’m checking up on Will now,” he said. ”But I’ll keep an eye on you.”

 

Tad didn’t realize that Bill had grabbed his cellphone from the several bags (full of clothing, since apparently Will had complained about the hospital gowns) during his speech about how they shouldn’t be escaping places without someone’s permission.

 

As soon as Tad was out, Bill turned on the phone.

 

He blinked.

 

_Shit._

_It has a password._

-.

Tad patted his pockets and looked around, eyes widening.

 

Where had he left his phone? Maybe in his room? Maybe he dropped it?

 

-.

 

On the seventh day, a full week, Dipper was sure there were no chewed pens in the whole house (he made a mental note to remind his sister to buy some the next time she went to the store, since he rarely left the house himself).

 

And then he heard a ding! coming from his side. It was a notification on his phone.

 

[Floppy Disk] DID YOU MISS ME? ADMIT IT, YOU MISSED ME!

 

[shooting star] oMG BILL IS THAT YOU  


[Floppy Disk] YES  


[Dipper] oh god  


[Floppy Disk] BILL IS JUT FINE ;)  


Dipper let out a content sigh.   


[Dipper] im literally facepalming  


He wasn't lying, but he didn't mention the fact that he was also smiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> edit: wAIT A SECOND  
> I FORGOT TELL YOU MY NEW HEADCANNON  
> LIKE, THE TWINS'S FAVORITE FOOD  
> MABEL LOVES SWEET FOOD  
> DIPPER LOVES SALTY FOOD  
> BILL LOVES SOUR FOOD  
> WILL LOVES SPICY FOOD
> 
> PERFECT
> 
> and now
> 
> have a nice day!


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaaalright i'm sorry it was a long wait and that this is so short  
> but believe me when i say that following chapters will be longer

"We should totally do a Pokemon tournament,” Dipper suggested, looking at his 3DS as if it were his child. “My Blaziken could beat all of you.”

“That’s not true! My Mudkip won against you!” Mabel revealed the truth, holding her own console triumphantly.

Dipper huffed. “You’re the only person I know that has a Mudkip level 42, let me tell you. Normal people  _evolve_  their pokemon.”

“You’re just jealous you don’t have the cutest pokemon.”

“You have a Togepi level 37, a Happiny level 34, a Whynaut level 38-“ Dipper continued listing off his sister's pokemon until he was interrupted.

“Yeah, yeah, we get it,” Bill said across the screen, dismissing the conversation. “Will has a Ludicolo that can beat your Blaziken  _and_  your Mudkip.”

“That’s not true, I bet my cosplay Pikachu could kill it-“ Mabel started arguing, holding her console in the air and showing a look that clearly said "I'm right".

“Mabel you don’t even kill pokemon they just faint-“ Dipper groaned.

“-if I wanted.”

“Is someone willing to trade a Dusclops for another Dusclops so they both evolve?” Tad randomly entered the conversation, thus stopping the argument, “I’ve always wanted a Dusknoir.”

“I have one,” Dipper told him. “Let’s trade.”

“Does anyone here have a Dedenne?,” Mabel asked, earlier fight already forgotten. ”I’ll trade any pokemon,” she added while Dipper and Tad traded their Dusclops in an effort to get them to evolve, and her brother rolled his eyes.

“I doubt anyone has a Dedenne, it’s from another generation-“

“I have three,” Bill chimed in.

“YOU DO?! What pokemon do you want for it?”

“Any pokemon is fine; I just want to get rid of them.”

“Why would you ever want to get rid of them-” Mabel stopped to gather her thoughts and shook her head. “Actually, I don’t wanna know. How about a Dragalge?”

“A Dragalge?” Bill seemed to consider it for a second. “Hell yeah,” he eventually said, running away from a wild pokemon so he could trade as well. He knew better than to question why Mabel, out of all people, would have a Dragalge and would want to trade it for a Dedenne, but the situation was on his favor, and that was fine.

Will was sitting quietly (was he ever loud?) at his twin’s side, brows furrowed as he concentrated in the game, wanting to win to the fire type gym leader, Flannery, with a Sceptile, but it was becoming difficult. Oh joy. He kinda felt bad for the girl, though, since she kept saying to take her seriously, even if she was new in this gym leader business.

A few moments of comfortable silence passed before the Pines heard a knock at Mabel’s door. They quickly bid their friends bye-bye and ended the call, Dipper opening the door so their parents could enter. Oh joy (maybe he would be happier if it weren’t for the fact that he was in his sister’s room because it had faster internet).

“Your mother and I talked, and well,” their father said, looking at them both fondly. “We have decided that you need a breath of fresh air.” He finished.

_…oh joy._

“Are you planning to send us to a camp?” Mabel asked bluntly.

“Not exactly. We just thought we could send you over to your Great Uncles' for the rest of the summer.” Mabel was about to protest when their mom spoke.

“And no, there’s no way to get out of this.”

Mabel snapped her mouth shut.

Damn, she had been so close.

“… and we’re leaving…?” Dipper asked, looking hesitantly from one parent to another. Why couldn’t he stay safely in his room, were no bears could attack him?

“Tomorrow.”

“Wait, WHAT?!” Mabel all but shouted, already pulling out a suitcase and grabbing random clothes that were thrown around in her room, plus several plushies and knitting supplies.

Their parents, seemingly happy because their son and daughter were finally going to do something else than to just stay inside, left so they could pack.

They were so proud of having two amazing children, it seemed.

As soon as the sound of footsteps faded, Mabel pushed her twin outside the door of her room. “WE NEED TO PACK,” she loudly announced before closing the door shut with Dipper standing in the hallway.

He sighed.

Why couldn’t his parents just choose something else, something easier to do? Something that could be done without leaving the safety of their home?  
  
It seemed like fate wasn’t on his side today. Or luck. Or whatever.  
  
He sighed as he pulled out an empty suitcase (or it would be empty, but it had some trash inside) from underneath his bed, then placed it on top of all his pillows (most pf them were gifts from Mabel, and he'd be lying if he said that the pillows she did were uncomfortable).   
  
Time to pack, it seemed.  
  
-.  
  
He threw a couple of shirts behind him, wondering where the heck his hat was.  
  
Seriously, he had left if just on the top shelf in the right, so where had it gone? It wasn't like it could grow legs and leave either. It _had_ to be here.  
  
His phone buzzed and Dipper grabbed it, thankful for the distraction.  
  
[evil dorito] PINE TREE  
  
[evil dorito] SHOOTING STAR HAS INFORMED ME THAT YOU'RE LEAVING FOR YOUR  
  
[evil dorito] ...  
  
[evil dorito] GRUNKLES'?  
  
He mentally facepalmed. Mabel and he had visited them years ago and she still called them their grunkles. He did too... Alright, he mentally un-facepalmed.  
  
[Dipper] yeah seems like it  
  
[evil dorito] OH. I'LL SEE YOU LATER, THEN!   
  
He was about to type [bill u cant even see me] when suddenly Bill went offline, so he erased it instead and continued his search for his hat.  
  
He was leaving tomorrow and he didn't have time for this.  
  
-.  
  
Mabel practically _jumped_ outside their parents' car, and Dipper debated whether his sister was mentally stable or not but decided not to dwell too much on it. If Mabel was insane, then he probably was too.  
  
She was carrying her own luggage with both hands, smiling excitedly (and knowingly?) at the bus station. They'd be taking the one that left for Gravity Falls in fifteen minutes.  
  
He begrudgingly exited the car on his own will, saying goodbye to his parents ("yeah, I'll eat my vegetables and brush my teeth, bye, yeah I'll miss you too"). His own suitcases were too heavy and he wondered how in the world could Mabel carry hers when she basically packed twice as much, but reminded himself that Mabel was a few minutes older and that was why. Yeah, he'd definitely be stronger. Maybe.  
  
And after everyone told their goodbyes, the twins finally entered the bus, and sat right in the back, because according to Mabel, it was "to enjoy this trip correctly", but he knew that Mabel just liked the extra space.  
  
Mabel pointed out every. single. animal she saw until her brother saw it too, and would wave at every car that passed on her side as well. Most drivers would ignore her, but some would actually smile and wave back.  
  
Dipper, on the other side, brought out his 3DS that he so conveniently packed on his right pocket (the console somehow fit there and he wasn't going to question how). He was going to learn a move or two so he could win to Mabel. How can a little Mudkip win against a Blaziken? Maybe it was his strategy.  
  
This was a ridiculously long trip, and it seemed it was due to the slow driver. The man seemed young and carefree but his driving definitely compared to an old man's.   
  
Mabel didn't seem to care, so why should he?  
  
He leaned on his seat, and closed his eyes. Soon enough he'd be with his grunkles, and he'd probably go to the forest and see if he could, by some miracle, have some sort of adventure, and before he knew it, he'd be back home. Yep, it was simple.  
  
In a few minutes, he was asleep.  
  
-.  
  
Mabel shuffled around in her seat, enthusiastically texting in her phone, yet still being careful not to break it or her nails.  
  
Dipper simply groaned, his 3DS still in his hand.  
  
She was grinning like a mad-man, sure, but this was going to be _great_.  
  
Best summer ever, if she dared to say.  
  
Because nothing could every go wrong when she's the one planning stuff, she looked at her brother, smiling even wider than before.  
  
Yep, this was going perfect.  
  
-.  
  
Dipper woke up as he was being shoved by an excited Mabel, and he opened his eyes, only to find that... he couldn't see.  
  
He was awake, right?  
  
"Come on, Dipdop!"  
  
His sister yanked him by the arm, making him sit up. He used his free hand to try and take away whatever was on his face, but his sister was having none of it as she gently slapped him. "You can't do that! It's a surprise!"  
  
He eventually gave up on trying to gain his eyesight back and he realized that he wasn't taken back at all, and considering that he was now temporaly blind on a bus, it was saying something. And it could only be explained by Mabel.  
  
He was being dragged to who-knows-where, thinking about whether Mabel had left his suitcases in the bus or not (geniunly concerned), until they stopped right in their tracks.  
  
Mabel took his blindfold off, and he was met with familiar faces.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -ooooh my goooooosh = anooother updaaaateeee-  
> it's still kinda short, but i knew i had to do something for last chapter's cliffhanger.  
> besides, i felt like writing today so might as well put whatever inspiration i had into good use, right?
> 
> this chapter is bill's pov btw
> 
> imma just leave this here and go answer comments ;v;

  
He wasn't kidding when he said he'd make a surprise party. Of course, Shooting Star agreed with him and said she'd take care of the rest. Which had meant that she wouldn't say a word to Pine Tree and that she would blindfold him so it'd be the " _most surprising surprise of all surprising surprises_ ". She had also mentioned that she'd tell Question Mark to buy a cake and candy and everything he could find, and while it had been his idea originally, now all he had to do was show just how pretty his face was and greet Pine Tree. Perfect, wasn't it?  
  
Of course it was. Everything he did was.  
  
So the day that the twins were supposed to arrive, he wandered the forest until he found the nicest clearing (and closest to the bus station) ever, and he informed Floppy Disk of its existence. And no more than half an hour later, everyone arrived.   
  
Question Mark placed tables everywhere, and Llama decorated them with the most expensive (and delicious) food, candy and desserts that she could find. Bill knew it had been done for Shooting Star, though.  
  
Fez and Sixer (who were apparently their 'grunkles' if he heard correctly) brought gifts.  
  
The little rich kid (what was his name again?) with the completely white hair had came with a pony. It was probably for Shooting Star as well, but the thought of Pine Tree riding a pony entered his mind a few times.  
  
Then Floppy Disk threw confetti around, to make sure it looked festive enough.  
  
Stitched Heart could apparently bake since who-knows-when, and with his girlfriend's aid, they made a vanilla cake look presentable.  
  
And while everyone else was doing something productive, he and Will made giant bubbles that would explode if they touched something, inevitably disappointing the pair of twins. He had been lied by the guy on the supermarket when he bought the weird, soapy-liquid.  
  
Then he got a text from Shooting Star, saying that they were arriving in less than ten minutes.  
  
As he read it aloud, everyone went from calm to downright panicked.  
  
Poor Will was shoved around as everyone ran and double, then triple-checked that yes, there were in fact zero giant bears eating the candies, and that no, the tables hadn't gotten wings and fled somewhere.  
  
And when Shooting Star actually arrived, her brother just behind her, he felt nervous because this was it. He was meeting Pine Tree. And surely enough, first impressions were important too and he was only wearing a yellow sweater with black, star themed pants underneath (he hadn't even put on socks-) and his clothes were all dirty and what had he thought when he chose those pants, really.  
  
And then Shooting Star took off her twin's blindfold, and Pine Tree had just stared at them like they were ghosts or maniacs or maniatic ghosts with two heads but then they all yelled surprise and Pine Tree just kept staring at him like he was a literal dorito demon, and he kept staring too because heck, but the inital shock wore down and then he knew this would become awkward so he shouted as loud as he could, the first thing that came into his mind,  
  
"HURRY UP OR WE WON'T BE ABLE TO LOOK AT SATURN TONIGHT!"  
  
And oh my god, why had he said that, Tad had probably just said that you'd be able to see Saturn after midnight as a joke and Pine Tree would surely think he was weird and then he turned around-  
  
And Will was just standing there with the most shit-eating grin ever and that meant that the little fucker knew, he _knew_ and still wasn't helping him and Bill would definitely kill his twin later but he had way more important things to do, like decide what the fuck he was supposed to do now.  
  
But then Floppy Disk pushed him and he was standing in a very close position to Pine Tree and his first instinct was to fuc _king shove him away_ but then he thought better of it and as a second instinct, he pulled Pine Tree into _a hug_. And maybe this wasn't going as perfect as he had planned but then again he hadn't really planned _anything_ and he remembered that he was _still_ hugging him and he pulled back with a sheepish smile, and he was so glad that Fez and Sixer made their way to Pine Tree (so if they were his grunkles, then Pine Tree was... their great nephew, right?) because he was sure as hell that he might have not voiced the most coherent of his thoughts and he wasn't exactly prepared to explain why he was thinking what he was currently thinking but oh well.  
  
And then everyone started stuffing their faces with food, and Shooting Star ran to him and hugged him as well, and he hugged her back because she had helped him do this little party and then everyone sat in a small circle and talked about whatever things they had missed, but then again, neither him nor Will had been inside the friendly circle for long, and for some reason Floppy Disk knew the Pines family and he knew them too but the memories that Bill shared with Sixer weren't exactly _friendly_ at all, so he exchanged a look with Will and they both stood up and practically ran away because this was _too much_ for Will and because this wasn't going as planned for Bill and they were both glad for the little interruption. After they both had a moment to catch their breaths and realize that this was a real thing and neither of them were dreaming, they just returned to the small party with a smile (even though he was sure it looked more of a grimace but no one commented on it so it was fine) and the Pines twins (the young ones, of course), Pine Tree mostly, just looked extremely happy yet exhausted and a bit of confused at the same time, and oh boy it was comforting to say the least that he wasn't the only one.  
  
And then it went dark, and Stitched Heart and his girlfriend left, then the white-haired kid, and he was about to leave with his twin and Tad when a voice he knew a bit too much called out for him,  
  
"Aren't we going to watch the stars?"  
  
and he turned around and Pine Tree was just standing there as awkward as he always was and how could he _ever_ say no to him, and without thinking twice he firmly nodded his head and Shooting Star appeared out of _nowhere_ and _demanded_ that he and Will go with them in their grunkle's car, but Bill knew that his twin wasn't what you'd call a _social_ person and that he was generally anxious around people and that there was a limit as to how much time he can be in the presence of anothers, because as much as his twin enjoyed going out, Will sent a look over his way practically begging to go home, so he said,  
  
"Will isn't up for it right now, but I'll go."  
  
And Shooting Star was _beaming_ and Floppy Disk dragged Will to his car to drive him home, and Bill heard his twin as he whispered "wear protection" and he blushed and sticked out his middle finger at him while scowling because _holy hell_ , Will had definitely _not_ said that. No, his little and naive brother was _incapable_ of even _thinking_ something like  _that_.  
  
Then he entered the car, knowing for a fact that Shooting Star would betray him as he sat on the window, and Bill was right because she forced her twin to enter the car first so she would sit on the other window as she shot him a wink, and _how dare she_ betray him.  
  
And during the whole ride to the weird cabin-like house that Sixer owned, there were laughs and giggles and mainly stories that Bill had no idea about, so he just looked out of the window, looking at the trees. It was the same.scenery.every.time. The same trees since he was a kid, the same road, the same people (albeit they were all older now), and maybe all that had changed was his perspective on things. Or maybe it had actually changed, but he never noticed.  
  
He basically knew how many trees were around the perimeter of his house, he knew the steps it took him to go anywhere, he knew at what hours the people of this town had nothing to do, he knew how many people would go to the cinema to watch a specific movie, he knew every single title of every book in the library and every single author,   
  
and maybe it didn't seem like this was the case, but he was really glad there was a change in all that.  
  
-.  
  
Shooting Star made a beeline for the room in the attic, exclaiming how she really needed to unpack and tend to her hamster (apparently it was an app she had downloaded on her phone?), practically running all the way up the stairs with her phone in her hand.  
  
Fez went to his room, saying that he wasn't staying up because thank you very much, he didn't want to have sore muscles tomorrow.  
  
Then Sixer went to his lab, explaining that he had too much work to do, too much experiments to finish, and how he'd rather not do them during the rest of the summer. Not while his family was visiting, at least.  
  
And that left him alone. With Pine Tree.  
  
And maybe this had been planned as well, but it wasn't like he was able to read Shooting Star's thoughts and he couldn't exactly just blame her, so he just put on a smile and followed Pine Tree to some sort of balcony on the roof of the Shack, and he is sure that he might fall down but he wouldn't say that aloud either.  
  
"Did you... did you even bring a telescope?" Pine Tree asked him, his voice slightly showing off that he was nervous. _But nervous about what?_  
  
"...No?" Bill replies, but then scowls, "I won't depend in a metal artifact to see when I have a perfectly fine eye."  
  
"But, you uhm, kinda need it to see saturn?" Pine Tree raised an eyebrow.  
  
"Not anymore. I'll grow an extra eye and see the shit outta saturn."  
  
"N-No, I mean it seriously." Pine Tree did not look reassured.  
  
"You know what it'd be better, though?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"To see uranus," and Bill explodes in fits of laughter as Pine Tree blushes a furious shade of red.  
  
And he would gladly be called an inmature person, but oh god that had been so perfect timing and he couldn't resist making a joke, especially if it got Pine Tree blushing because that made him look so cute, and oh god it was so funny he couldn't even breathe.  
  
"Alright, alright," Bill calmed down, but as soon as he saw his companion's expression, he laughed once again.  
  
"I can't," he laughed again,"even-" another laugh,"even breathe!"  
  
Pine Tree rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up. It wasn't even that funny."  
  
"Of course it wasn't, your expression was priceless," he replied, taking giant gulps of air. Sweet, sweet air.  
  
And there was just something that Bill couldn't put a finger on, but he was sure that there was something. And he stared into Pine Tree's eyes, memorizing how they looked like because he had learned his lesson. Just as he had lost an eye, he could loose another and be blind, never be able to see anything anymore. And maybe he was being selfish and greedy because he was just holding tight into whatever he was given, and it wasn't nice to never let go of something, but he could afford to be selfish, to be greedy, to be what he wanted to be for once, right?  
  
And as he saw Dipper's eyes stare into his own, he knew what he wanted to do.  
  
In the middle of the night, their lips crashed together.  
  
-.  
  
Away from her twin's sight, Mabel and Pacifica highfived each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and by 'having to do something' i completely meant 'doing another cliffhanger'  
> but seriously, i neEDED TO DO THIS  
> NO BACKING OUT NOW
> 
> either way, have a nice day!  
> and remember to wash your greens, cross the teeth before looking twice and eat your roads!  
> (that's how it goes, right?)


	22. Chapter 22

  
"So, uhm, does this make us boyfriends?" Little, adorable Dipper was blushing so much, it made him look like a literal tomato with a human body.  
  
"Only if you want to," Bill replied, looking everywhere but him.  
  
Maybe Bill could be just as awkward as he was.  
  
"I want to," he replied firmly, turning to face his companion.  
  
Bill turned his head as well, staring into Dipper's eyes for any sign of it being a lie, and when he found none, he replied "I want to, too."  
  
"Then we are?"  
  
"We are."  
  
Dipper genuinely smiled, and so did Bill.  
  
-.  
  
"Are we really going to catch butterflies?" Dipper asked, eyeing the net in his hand suspiciously. What if _he_ got caught on it?  
  
"Yes, we are. Got a problem with that, Pine Tree?" Bill replied, tying his shoes together and glancing every few moments at the door.  
  
"Are we all going too?" Mabel chimed in, sharing a look with Pacifica. Yep, they were probably planning something right now, but Dipper could ignore that. For now, at least. Besides, Will was going too, right? And Tad? Honestly, Dipper didn't know where the heck was Tad half of the time. Who knew, maybe the guy was making pancakes or saving someone's life, and they had no idea.  
  
"Yup," and Bill went out the door.  
  
It probably wasn't one of their best ideas yet, but Bill had insisted, and for Dipper at least, it had been hard to say no.  
  
"Come on!" Bill whined from wherever he was (he couldn't have gone far, but the guy could run fast if he tries hard enough), urging the others to finish preparing.  
  
"I'm going!" Mabel shouted and left the shack, Pacifica quick on her heels, mumbling something about "not enough time" and it being "too early".   
  
As fas as he knew, the situation of Mabel and Pacifica's relationship could be described as a swirl of colors. Because even if they were friends, sometimes they were a bit too friendly, and Dipper hesitated whenever he thought of describing it using the word "romance". Maybe they just had conflicted emotions. But whatever their relationship was, it made Mabel happy either way, and Dipper was glad. He just wished his sister would tell him, he guessed.  
  
With a small sigh, he walked outside, only to be greeted by the sight of a limp Bill lying on the floor, Mabel laughing victoriously over him with her fists raised high in the air.  
  
"What happened?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. He probably shouldn't have stayed inside that long.  
  
"Mabel happened," his boyfriend (his stomach did little flutters whenever he thought of it) mumbled, rolling to lay on his back and crossing his arms.  
  
Dipper let out a hand to help Bill to his feet, the blonde taking it with no hesitation.  
  
"Now, are we really going to catch butterflies or not?"  
  
"Yeah, but first..." Bill made a dramatic pause, which led to Pacifica huffing. "We're going to the mall."  
  
"Is that supposed to be something exciting? Because it's not," Dipper frowned.  
  
"You just don't understand the art of shopping, Dipdop," Mabel slung her arm around her twin's shoulders and led him towards Pacifica's, "and we're here to show you. By the way, I call shotgun."  
  
"That's not even fair, I didn't even know we were going somewhere-"  
  
"I thought we were catching butterflies?" Pacifica asked, throwing her net aside and opening the door for the driver's seat.  
  
"Even Bill understands the wonder of buying clothes," and his sister shot Bill a look that clearly said "don't correct me".  
  
"As long as we buy candies," Bill shrugged, entering the car, motioning for Dipper to do the same.  
  
This... this didn't sound like a good idea anymore.  
  
-.  
  
This had never been a good idea.  
  
As soon as they had reached the local mall, both girls had rushed over to the stores that had most sparks in their names, and that left him with Bill.  
  
And of course, Bill only wanted to buy candies.  
  
"C'mon, Pine Tree!" he had said as he had grabbed Dipper by the hand, attempting to pull him over to somewhere (excuse him, but Dipper was having none of that). After a few more unsuccesful attemts, he gave up, pouting "you're no fun."  
  
Dipper rolled his eyes and instead showed him the pet store.  
  
Bill entered without hesitation.  
  
"Weren't Will and Tad coming too?" Dipper asked, staring into a turtle that seemed to stare back at him. Its eyes seemed all devoid of color, yet there was something to it that he couldn't name. Or maybe that was what all turtles looked like and he was just exaggerating. He settled on the latter, turning to look to his boyfriend-  
  
Bill stuck out his phone from... somewhere and stared at the screen. "They're already here," he shrugged.  
  
"Where are they, then?"  
  
"Dunno," and he attempted to pet a bunny again before- "do fish like to be pet?"  
  
Dipper frowned. "No?"  
  
"Why not?  
  
"Because they're fish?"  
  
"...good enough." After a few minutes of comfortable silence, Bill spoke again. "Why do bunnies have their eyes on different sides of their faces?"  
  
"Because that way they can see if something is coming their way to eat them," he shrugged.  
  
"You never told me you were a biologist," Bill joked glancing to the side.  
  
"You never told me you liked bunnies."  
  
"They have floppy ears."  
  
"Can't argue with that logic."  
  
"Or maybe you just can't bring yourself to argue with m-"  
  
Bill froze in his spot, blinking owlishly.  
  
Dipper turned around to face him, the spider he had been eyeing forgotten, as he saw what got Bill to stop talking.  
  
And there he was, Bill with a hand raised in the air, a bunny clinging onto one of his fingers as it bit him, his other hand staying still on top of another fluffy animal.  
  
Dipper slowly grabbed his phone as if any sudden movement would make Bill react and then snapped a photo, setting it as his new wallpaper.  
  
People around were starting to stare at them and Bill was still frozen, until Dipper gently nudged him "hey".  
  
Then he let out a small whimper, "even the little bunny hates me."  
  
-.  
  
Bill saw the bowls full of candy at the mall. This store gave you a bag so you could grab whatever candies you wanted and then pay for them. However, the bowls were open and he could snatch a few candies if he wanted (and if no one noticed).  
  
He grabbed a mouthful of M&Ms and shoved them in his mouth.  
  
He gave a glance both ways, and nope, no one had seen him. Not even Pine Tree.  
  
Good.  
  
-.  
  
He opened a can of glitter and discreetly poured some of it into Pine Tree's hair.  
  
He muffled his giggles.  
  
Pine Tree looked right out from a girly TV show.  
  
-.  
  
Mabel and Pacifica had agreed to meet them at the Hoo Ha Owl's Pizzamatronic Jamboree (and Dipper was still thinking about the fact that his sister could spell that correctly, but mostly thinking about the fact that _why_ would someone ever name a place like _that_ ). The name itself sounded like a place where you could learn about drugs and play an instrument for kids... whatever.  
  
Will was there, playing Fight Fighters agains Tad and winning effortlesly. He didn't even blink before charging at Tad, who wasn't fast enough to attack back or even dodge out of the way. Poor guy.  
  
Both girls were playing a game called... Life Avoider, which didn't seem like a game for children at all. But hey, to each their own, he supposed.   
  
Bill inmediatedly left him to play NORT, the game "based on the movie based on the game". And once again, to each their own. Seriously though, why would he ever prefer any other game rather than Fight Fighters?   
  
But then something else caught the blonde's eye.  
  
A plushie machine.  
  
He inmediatedly grabbed Dipper by his arm, all but running towards it before anyone else could. The game was left forgotten.  
  
"We are getting one," he said as he poured a bag of lots of coins (that made Dipper wonder _where_ exactly had he gotten them- it was better not to ask), scanning all possible candidates in the machine.  
  
Then he found it.   
  
And pointed at it. "It's a hyena," Bill said, breathless.  
  
It was a hyena, or in the very least, it looked like one. _Actually, scratch that,_ Dipper thought. _It's not a hyena and doesn't even look like one._ It was incredibly yellow, and if it could shine it would defnitely leave him blind. It's eyes were merely crosses (in a cartoon, it'd make it look like it was dead), and to be honest, it looked like it'd fall apart any second now. It was no use trying to talk Bill out of this one, though. He was too stubborn for it.  
  
"I'm not getting out of here without it," Bill inserted a coin, moving the claw so it could grab the plushie.  
  
And that was the moment that Dipper realized that Bill was very much capable of staying inside the mall during it's closing hours just to get ... that thing, whatever it was. Maybe it had been a lion reject in another store that was sent here, who knew. Maybe it got stomped over by a rhinoceros, or maybe it existed since the First World War.  
  
But it was apparently cute enough for Bill, and for now it was all that mattered.  
  
-.  
  
37 attempts later, they still hadn't gotten the damn plush. Not that he had wanted to count, but it would be nice blackmail material to use later on. It would be extremely embarrasing for Bill if he said "so one time, it took Bill more than 37 attempts to get a plushie on a machine". Mabel and Pacifica had stopped to watch on the first twelve, and Will and Tad appeared soon after. It was amusing to watch.  
  
Surprisingly enough, Bill had remained calm.  
  
And that was what bothered him the most.  
  
Because never, _ever_ since Dipper had met the guy, he had seen him so _calm_ , _collected_ and _quiet_. It was almost like Bill and Will had swapped personalities.  
  
"Can we eat now?" Mabel whined, looking longingly at the pizzas that were being served to other people and _not_ her.  
  
"We gotta wait for Bill," Tad replied.  
  
Bill was just standing as a _normal_ person (something he definitely was _not_ ), face contorted in an emotion he couldn't _quite_ figure out (probably a calm expression), watching the claw slowly reach then grab the plushie only to drop it moments later. It felt like he became a tickling bomb, one that would explode any moment. He hadn't uttered a single word and he seemed to concentrate in the machine and in the machine only, as if he had forgotten everything else around him.  
  
"I didn't actually expect him to be this patient," Pacifica commented after minutes in silence. "I kinda thought that Will was the only one that could stay this quiet, too."  
  
To her right side, Will shrugged.  
  
"Is this normal?" Mabel asked, poking Bill several times to no avail. "He doesn't even react."  
  
"I'm actually worried for once," Pacifica once again spoke,"what if it turns out he's an impostor or something?"  
  
"Nah, I've been with him all day and I haven't seen him run away or something," Dipper replied, his eyes narrowing as he recalled the day's events. Nope, he hadn't seen anyone else take Bill's place.  
  
Pacifica was about to talk again, her mouth opening when they heard a loud _bang_.  
  
They turned their faces to see what was the conmotion, and apparently Mabel had kicked the machine, getting tired of having to wait for Bill, making the plushie fall down.  
  
"Thanks, Shooting Star!" Bill simply colected the hyena(?) plushie and held it like a trophy.  
  
Satisfied, Mabel made a show of "cleaning" her hands as she smirked.  
  
"See? Now we can go eat," she said before heading to the tables.  
  
"Pine Tree, remind me to never piss off Shooting Star," Bill whispered, looking at the place where Mabel had kicked the plush machine.  
  
It now had a dent the size of her shoe.  
  
-.  
  
"And then Bill jumped when he saw the cat," Tad finished his story as he took another bite from the greasy pizza they had bought.  
  
"That's not true!" Bill scoffed, poking away the food he hadn't finished yet. "I didn't even jump!"  
  
"That's right, you didn't jump," Tad took a moment to continue. "You squealed like a girl."  
  
The blonde huffed and instead threw a pepperoni at his friend. It landed on his right cheek.  
  
Tad threw a mushroom at his face, but the blonde ducked and it fell on Mabel's hair instead.  
  
"Oh, this is war," the brunette stated as Bill raised his hands in a "please stop" sign.  
  
-.  
  
"Seriously though," Dipper mumbled as he recollected yet another piece of pizza from his hair- glitter fell too, but he had no idea why, "whose idea was it to include the sodas?"  
  
"Not mine," Pacifica basically growled. She was trying to wipe away the grease from her face. She was unsuccesful.  
  
"Well, whose idea was to start the food fight?" Mabel pointed out.  
  
"Technically, you said it was a war," Bill remarked as he returned from the bathroom, his hyena plushie held in his arms.  
  
"Oh shush," she said and nudged Bill in the shoulder.  
  
"I doubt they're letting us return to the pizzeria again soon," Tad notified them, approaching the group with Will behind him. "They weren't too happy that they had to pick up after you."  
  
"This is the first time I've been banned from somewhere," Pacifica narrowed her eyes. "And I'm blaming it on you."  
  
"At least they haven't found out who kicked the plush machine yet," Mabel smiled.  
  
-.  
  
They were unaware of a pair of eyes watching them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is gonna end like at   
> chapter 33 (if i actually write the chapters as i planned them)  
> but   
> i think it may not have a... happy ending
> 
> and if it doesn't  
> then i'll just- make a smaller story with a happy one
> 
> either way, the plot isn't over yet  
> i just can't decide


	23. Chapter 23

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which they go camping.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> warning: this has mentions of blood and death, so if you don't like that or if you're sensitive, feel free to skip out the part between the two _~_

Everyone could hear the sound of pots clattering. "Today, we're camping," Shooting Star announced as she came out of the kitchen. "No internet, no cellphones, no Google Maps. Just plain ol' camping-"  
  
"What if we get lost?" Bill perked his head up from whatever he was doing in his own phone.  
  
"He has a point, you know," Pine Tree chimed in. Bill sent him a thankful look.  
  
"Then we'll decide who we eat first," Shooting Star replied dryly.  
  
Bill shivered and glanced at the door, "actually, I have to... go with... uh, the vet," he concluded, proud of himself.  
  
Shooting Star was having none of that, however, as she situated herself between everyone and the door.  
  
"No one is going out unless it's for camping."  
  
"Listen, Pine Tree," Bill whispered. "We can tell her we're going and run for our lives the second we are outside. You with me?"  
  
Pine Tree sighed. "She'd catch up to us. She's faster than you think."  
  
"Oh." Bill looked crestfallen for a second, but it was soon before anyone noticed. He stood up, but surprisingly, he went straight to Shooting Star and dropped his phone into her awaiting hands with a sigh. Shooting Star smiled. Surely if Bill gave up, then everyone else would as soon as they realized that there was no getting out of this one.  
  
"What do we need to bring?" Floppy Disk handed her his phone, running a hand through his hair.  
  
"I already have everything packed, actually," Shooting Star admitted as she deposited the phones in a cardboard box.  
  
"You mean, even if we said no, you'd still drag us?" Llama raised an eyebrow as she stood up, gently placing her expensive phone in the box as well.  
  
"Yep," she answered.  
  
Bill snatched his twin's phones and threw it in the air, Shooting Star almost missing it. She shot Bill a look, but dropped the phone in the box anyway. Will crossed his arms in a wordless protest, but otherwise, did nothing.  
  
Pine Tree slowly, but steadily gave his twin his phone, his eyes narrowed as he silently dared his sister to do anything with it.  
  
She set the box on the floor, closing it. "Alright, follow me."  
  
-.  
  
"The backpacks so _heavy_ ," Bill whined as he rubbed his shoulder,"what is in there, anyway?"  
  
Knowing her, it was full of glitter and cute cats.  
  
"Anything we can ever need," Shooting Star answered as she slung her own backpack over her shoulders without complaint.  
  
"Maybe we should survive the wilderness head on," Bill suggested, tired of having to carry all that stuff,"the same way that the homo sapiens did."  
  
"Bill, _we are_ the homo sapiens," Pine Tree pointed out as he kicked a rock out of the way.  
  
"Then let's do it the homo sapiens way," he paused. "With Google's help."  
  
"Yeah... we're not doing that," Shooting Star once again spoke, declining the suggestion.  
  
Bill saw a small squirrel poking its head out of a trunk, but it left as quickly as it came. Hm, Shooting Star always called them furry balls of cuteness, and he could see why. His hyena was cuter, though.  
  
"Ugh, there's so much bugs in here," Llama complained, staring at the several small insects surrounding her. She was sure that Pine Tree could name at least half of them, and she wasn't sure she was happy with that fact.  
  
"Of course, we're in the woods after all," Floppy Disk reminded her.  
  
"And we could be somewhere else, but we're not," Bill mumbked, sticking out his tongue at Shooting Star. She didn't notice, however, as she leaded the group, having her back turned against him. Better for him, since she probably would've done something to make him regret every single decision he had made in his life (using glitter, of course).  
  
"We're here!," speaking of the devil, she raised her arms in a triumphant pose.  
  
In front of her was a large clearing, big enough to fit every tent they brought and a campfire as well (now that he thought of it, Shooting Star must've brought crackers, marshmallows and chocolate to make s'mores, right? Obviously she had, why else would they be out in the wirld if she hadn't?). It had a few flowers here and there that were beautiful enough to be remembered, but not enough to actually look up their names to buy them later or something. One of the trees had a nest on one of it's bigger branches where someone could clearly see the bird family that lived on it. All in all, this was a nice place.   
  
"We discovered this when we were kids," Pine Tree procalimed, a proud expression in his face that was hard to miss.  
  
If it had been someone else instead of Pine Tree, Bill surely as hell would've said something like "and we care because?", but this was _Pine Tree_ they were talking about. If someone insulted him, Bill would probably feel insulted too.  
  
With a content sigh, he merely threw his very own backpack in the floor and laid on the grass, his head supported by it.  
  
Pine Tree mimicked him, dropping his bag in a careful way just at Bill's right side and closed his eyes.   
  
Taking it as a sign that it was time to rest for a while, everyone started to put up their tents (and failed, but it was the thought that counted).  
  
Shooting Star frowned, but after a few seconds merely grinned and shrugged. Better to have a happy family than an annoyed one, it seemed. She let her bag slip off her shoulder and bended so she could take out her tent and sleeping bag (both of them star-themed).  
  
As long as her twin was happy, she'd be happy too.  
  
-.  
  
"If you're so smart, then what's this?" Bill asked as he pointed at a dragonfly.  
  
"That's a  _Sympetrum flaveolum_." Pine Tree answered without skipping a beat.  
  
"Ha, nerd," Bill called out.  
  
"..."  
  
"And what's this?" He asked, holding up a yellow flower.  
  
"That's a...  _Coreopsis gigantea._ It's a woody, perenial plant-"  
  
"...how...how do you manage to complicate _flowers_?" Bill frowned. "Did you read all the pages in Wikipedia?"  
  
"More or less."  
  
-.  
  
"So, we're starting a fire like our ancestors did, right?" Bill asked from his spot, wherever he was, as he started recollecting branches.  
  
A nod.  
  
"We just rub rocks together?"  
  
"...I think."  
  
"I thought you were the smart one?"  
  
"So did I," Pine Tree sighed as he kept trying to start a fire with no success.  
  
-.  
  
"Is there a lake nearby or is it our fate to die out of dehydration?"  
  
"Mabel brought enough bottles of water, Bill."  
  
"...can we still find a lake anyway?"  
  
"Why?"  
  
"So we can throw someone in the water while they sleep."  
  
"You must be the devil itself, Bill."  
  
"Thanks, I try."  
  
-.  
  
"Can you lend me a bathroom?"  
  
"A what?"  
  
"A bathroom."  
  
"...Bill, just go in the bushes or something."  
  
"...what if an animal bites me?"  
  
A sigh. "That's your problem, not mine."  
  
"It _could_ be _your_ problem too..."  
  
-.  
  
"Bill, pass me the marshmallows."  
  
"What's the magic word?"  
  
"Please."  
  
"It actually is _abracadabra_ , but a _please_ will do the trick," Bill winked as he handed him the marshmallows.  
  
"Oh my god."  
  
-.  
  
"I forgot to bring my tent, I don't have one."  
  
"Mabel packed you one."  
  
"I don't have a tent. Can I share yours?"  
  
"...sure."  
  
-.  
  
"Are we going to tell each other scary stories so we don't sleep at night?" Bill leaned into Pine Tree's side as they stared at the campfire infront of them. They ended up using a match in order to light the sticks.  
  
"You're right, Bill." Shooting Star praised him. "It's not true camping if we don't tell scary stories."  
  
"Alright then, I'll go first," Llama said, joining. "When I was young, I always thought that there was something following me at home. At all times. Like there was a pair of eyes that kept staring at me non-stop. Sometimes I could hear creaking sounds when I was alone, and it was freaking me out."  
  
Everyone leaned in to hear her tell her story.  
  
"I told one of my butlers, Victor, that there was something unusual. That maybe there were rats hiding somewhere in the house, but when we searched for them, there were none."  
  
"First error," Bill whispered to Pine Tree. "She'd never help a butler."  
  
Pine Tree couldn't help it,"that's true."  
  
"I ended up telling him to man up and go search for the culprit, and he did. The wind was blowing hard that night, I swear it could've broken a window. The lights blinked once and when I called out for a maid to bring some candles, the lights went on again.  
  
Victor, the butler, was in the room with the painting of a man, his lifeless body laying still on the carpet." She finished her tale with a small movement of her hands.  
  
"That wasn't scary at all," Shooting Star raised an eyebrow.  
  
"I'll go next, then," Pine Tree suggested. Nobody argued, so he started.  
  
"One day, this kid went into the forest at night. He had nothing but his own clothes and a flashlight as he ventured deep into the woods.  
  
He found a cave, and when he gathered up the courage to enter further, his flashlight ran out of batteries.  
  
Rain started pouring down, and he knew there was now going back.  
  
He heard a noise coming from his left, and heard movements around him.  
  
What happened next will shock your minds.  
  
There was a giant bear with several heads, one of them with enough brain power to understand the kid's words and speak his very own language. It had been angered, and had been about to rip the kid's head off when the kid realized there was a stereo on top of a rock.  
  
It was playing a BABBA song, "Disco Girl."  
  
The kid called out to the bear, asking it if it liked BABBA too, and they ended up as friends. The end."  
  
"That's some bull right there, Pine Tree."  
  
"Can you do any better?"

 ** _~_**  
  
"Let's see... A few years ago, lived a man in a town that looked so much like ours. In fact, it could be said our town and the one here were twins. Said man worked as a butcher, cutting off the meat for his clients.  
  
One day, he decided it wasn't enough blood.  
  
I mean, why would he keep cutting animals when they were _so many people_ living around him?  
  
That same night, he exited his shop in the middle of the night, his _special_ knife in hand. He wandered around, looking for his prey, when he found a young man walking by himself.   
  
He walked up to the man, who was about to greet the butcher, but then he took a swing in the young man's chest, just below his heart. Blood splattered everywhere, but it still _wasn't enough_. The butcher did the routine of taking off the organs and skin off the animals, just this time on a man. The man _cried_ out in help, but no one was around to aid him. The butcher _ripped off_ his internal organs, one by one, smiling cruelly at the _masterpiece_ laying in front of him. He _crushed_ the man's ribs, _delighted_ at the _crunching_ sounds they did. He took the man's fingers off, not caring that he was tainted in bloodstains himself.   
  
He grabbed the man's heart, and in a single motion, ripped it out, blood going everywhere like a red fountain.  
  
It still wasn't enough, and he repeated the same again and again and again, until there were simply no more people on the town. He disappeared, not leaving a single trace but the bloodstains behind."

 _ **~**_  
  
Llama had been choking on her marshmallow since _before_ he finished the story, and Pine Tree just had a expression that Bill couldn't quite read. Oh well. Floppy Disk was looking a bit green on the sides, and Will was leaning on his elbows, expecting another story.  
  
"I... think it's enough stories for tonight," Shooting Star spoke, standing up albeit a little dizzily and biding everyone a goodnight before crawling inside her tent.  
  
"I think so too," and Llama just crawled to her own tent, preparing herself for any nightmares including butchers and young men that she might have.  
  
"Well, I guess it's goodnight," Floppy Disk called out as he ate a last s'more and practically dropped himself inside the tent.  
  
Will merely let out a sigh of disappointment as he walked inside his tent, not bothering to even acknowledge the rest.  
  
-.  
  
"Pine Tree!"  
  
"What?" Pine Tree didn't even bother to open his eyes as Bill shook him with one hand.  
  
"Pine Tree!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Pine Tree..." he was getting more insistent now, it wouldn't be efficient to try the techniche of 'if you can't see it, it's not there', it seemed. He opened his eyes and leaned on his elbows, yawning.  
  
"Look at what I found!"  
  
And Bill was holding a small, brown-ish fur ball, grinning like a cat who caught a canary. In this case, the human who caught a brown thingy.  
  
"That's nice, Bill, but can you try again later? When it's not like, 3am in the morning?" and he closed his eyes, ready to fall asleep when Bill dropped something in his lap. It was _heavy_. He used a hand to rub away the sleepiness.  
  
"Wha..."  
  
His eyes widened as he took in the sigh before his eyes.  
  
Bill was crouched down at his side, his eyes wide in excitement and his arms held over in the universal sign of 'look here'. And he was pointing at the brown-ish fur ball. Which seemed to move.Which seemed to have small ears. Which seemed to have a mouth, a nose and paws. Which _definitely_ shouldn't be there.  
  
He knew he should _really_ be concerned with the fact that Bill had _stolen_ a fu _cking bear cub_ , but he was concentrated in _when_ did Bill ever have _time_ to steal one when they were both sleeping?  
  
Boy, Bill was surely full of surprises.  
  
Not that it was anything new, but he'd be grateful if Bill could at least give him a heads-up on what he would be doing next.  
  
Now, if Discovery Channel and every damn documentarie he'd seen had taught him anything, it was that bears were not so keen on having a person stealing their o _wn family_. And cubs were the equivalent of human babies, and humans weren't happy when someone stole their babies. Neither were bear.  
  
The difference was that you couldn't apologize to a bear and that bears weren't repulsed by the thought of eating you. If anything, they were more than happy to do so.  
  
"We need to get it back," he said, meeting Bill's eyes.  
  
"You mean, back to mama bear?" Bill tilted his head to the side, something that would be cute if it weren't that the reason he had done so in the first place was because he just stole a fu-f- _fabulous bear cub_ -  
  
"Yes, back to mama bear," he blinked as he stood up, his eyes frantically looking around for any signs of a giant, angry bear. Thankfully, there were none.  
  
"But it's so small," Bill whined, holding the small bear close to him. It attempted to bite him, however, and with betrayal evident in his face he handed it back to Pine Tree (who accepted it after a moment of hesitation).   
  
"But it wants to get back to its mom," he looked at the cub straight in the eyes,"don't you?"  
  
"I have no idea if you're talking to me or to it," Bill raised an eyebrow as they silently stood up, in a wordless agreement of not making noise for the sake of everyone else's slumber.  
  
"Where did you even find it?"  
  
Pine Tree sighed, closing his eyes, listening.  
  
"Over there."  
  
And he opened his eyes again in order to see where was Bill pointing at.  
  
Of course it had to be near the mountain. Where else would you find a cave or something?  
  
"Let's just get this over with," he grumbled as he stood up. "Why did you even think it'd be a good idea to steal a baby bear, anyway?"  
  
Bill shrugged.  
  
"Yeah, I thought so. C'mon, we don't have all night."  
  
Bill followed behind him as he walked towards the bear's home.  
  
He frowned. Shouldn't they call the firemen or something? Exposing themselves to carnivore animals was never a good idea. Shouldn't be tried at home, either, but here they were, weren't they?  
  
"This is as far as I'm going, I swear," he said as he looked at the cave entrance, gently placing the cub infront of him.  
  
"Mama bear can't see us from here, right?"  
  
"I doubt so," he reached Bill's hand and took it in his own before leading him back to the camp.  
  
"Mama bear is out of the cave."  
  
"Is that a metaphor?"  
  
"No, I mean she's outside."  
  
"Oh shi-," he turned his head back, and yes, "mama bear" was outside of her home. She was gently tugging her cub back inside. "That... wasn't too dangerous, actually."  
  
"Aww," Bill whined. "I won't have any interesting stories to tell about how I fought a bear-"  
  
"Why would you ever fight a bear-"  
  
"and won against her, and then-"  
  
"don't tell me you stole the cub just to fight her-"  
  
"then how I protected the small bear cub-"  
  
"you did it just to fight the bear, didn't you-"  
  
"and raised it to be the-"  
  
"honestly, I'm not surprised-"  
  
"the most gentleman bear ever, gentlebear?-"  
  
"I should've known you'd try and do something-"  
  
"and how the bear ended up saving my life later-"  
  
"this is why we can't have nice things-"  
  
"by fighting off some wolves that threatened my life"  
  
"what if mama bear decided to fight us?-"  
  
"then we'd have our own book and even"  
  
"or what if the cub attacked us?"  
  
"even a shitty movie with awful graphics-"  
  
"next time we go out, don't steal small bears please-"  
  
"Are you insinuating that we'll go out again?" Bill raised his eyebrows suggestively.  
  
"Oh my god."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *the part between the _~_ was just a story with mentions of blood and death, courtesy of bill. no one is actually dead, and of you skipped it, you didn't miss anything important.
> 
> this chapter was 3000 words long when i only planned it to be like 1700  
> i am proud of myself  
> btw, thanks for all the kudos and comments ;v;  
> just haven't had time and internet to reply to them, sorry//
> 
> have a nice day!


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i think this sort of counts as fluff  
> but uh  
> i can't really plan a way for the story to end so i'm sort of slowly lagging my way there  
> so, this might either finish in like, ten chapters, or in three and it's confusing i know
> 
> if there's any typos, feel free to point them out! i don't have a beta reader or anything, and sometimes i'm just too lazy to check the chapter myself lol

"Alright, Pine Tree. We might have seen a place you discovered when you were young, but now it's my time to show you my favorite place."

“I thought your favorite place was your room," Pine Tree raised an eyebrow as he kicked away a rock.

"...my favorite place in the forest," Bill clarified.

"It's probably a cabin with Wi-Fi, isn't it." It wasn't a question at all.

"It's not," Bill smirked. "I'm full of surprises, am I not?"

"Yeah, sure. Though you’re never going to surprise me again without having to involve a bear cub, I'm afraid."

"Do you want me to get the bear cub again, then?"

"Please no," Pine Tree frowned.

"Okay then, follow me," Bill quickly grasped his boyfriend's hands in his own and dragged him across the forest, occasionally dodging trees and bigger-than-usual rocks.

“What should I expect then?”

“Trees, lots and lots of trees.”

Pine Tree shot him a look that got him to explain. “Well, it’s a lake.”

“If you already knew where a lake was, then why did you want to find one yesterday?”

“Because the lake I’m talking about isn’t that big of a lake.”

“Did you want an ocean or what?”

“Preferably, yes,” he paused. “Do you think mama bear knows about the lake?”

“Let’s hope no.”

“Do you think Shooting Star has destroyed our electronical devices yet?”

“…probably. Have we done everything she asks us?”

“Not at all.”

“Then yes, she probably destroyed them.”

Bill stopped shortly to gather yellow flowers from the plants surrounding them. “I’ve always wanted to make a flower crown, you know.” Pine Tree leaned a bit closer to Bill, taking in their surroundings.

“Yeah, you always seemed like the guy that would.”

“What gave me away?” Bill asked, holding one flower to Pine Tree, who gladly took it.

“Your taste in, well, everything.”

Bill huffed, but verbally said nothing. He stood up, once again holding Pine Tree’s hands (who didn’t seem to mind at all overall, but his light blush said otherwise).

“Seriously though, where are we going?”

Bill’s eyes were wide. “Over there?” He pointed at a location uncertainly.

“We came from over there… right?” Now Pine Tree’s eyes were wide too.

“No, I thought we came from over here,” Bill pointed behind him.

“No, that was where we were going.”

“Then were did we come from?”

“Don’t tell me we are lost.”

“Okay, I won’t.”

Pine Tree sighed, looking around for any signs of the route they took to get there. He found none.

“I can’t believe we got lost.”

“I’m sure it’s that way,” Bill pointed at behind Pine Tree.

Pine Tree deadpanned,”we came from over there.”

“No, we didn’t.”

“Yes, we did.”

“What way is it, then?”

“…”

“I thought you went here when you were a kid.”

“I thought this was your favorite spot.”

“That doesn’t mean I don’t get lost.”

“This isn’t the first time, then?”

“It’s the first time I get lost in the middle of the way.”

“Can’t you even remember anything from the routes you take?”

“Last time I came here, it was winter.”

“You’re so helpful, Bill. What would I ever do without you?” Pine Tree sighed and plopped on the dirt beneath him.

“Thanks a lot, Pine Tree,” Bill replied with a smirk as he leaned against the nearest tree (which wasn’t that far away, but it still made him nervous in case they found a fox or something and had to run). “What now?”

“What are people supposed to do when they get lost?”

“Try to gain phone signal, usually,” he patted his pockets. “But we don’t have any phones.”

“…and when they are in the middle of nowhere?”

“They make smoke signals.”

“That’s right, that means we-“

“Wait, did you just ask me questions,” Bill paused for a second,” to make me think, even though you already knew the answer?”

Pine Tree nodded once, then shrugged dismissively.

“You’re completely evil.”

“Gee, thanks.”

-.

“It was this way, I remember.”

“This time for sure, Bill?”

“Probably. Maybe. Not so sure. No. Definitely no.”

Pine Tree frowned. “We should’ve brought a map.”

“Isn’t it too late now?”

“Yeah,” Pine Tree sighed,”but we can at least dream.”

-.

Bill stopped walking, staring with an unreadable expression at whatever was in front of him.

Taking a step closer, Pine Tree concernedly glanced at the object that intrigued the blonde so much.

On the floor, there was a rock and a small flower at its side.

He knew that wasn’t what Bill was looking at though, so he gave a few looks around.

He saw a rock in the shape of a triangle, far away from them.

It was sort of big, and looked old. Really old.

Maybe it had a hat. He couldn’t really tell from the distance. It looked like it had noodle arms. It had what looked like a bowtie, and an… eye? The eye could relate to a cat’s, but it still was different from anything else he had seen.

He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what was special, different about it. Maybe it was the fact that it could’ve been done years, centuries ago, but he had a feeling that wasn’t it.

Without a warning, Bill held his head up and walked away.

Silently, Pine Tree followed him.

-.

“Alright, can’t you at least remember where you got the bear from?”

“I remember the cave and where it was,” Bill answered as he lifted a stone from the dirt,”but I have no idea where  _we_  are.”

“…got any ideas, then?”

“No,” Bill frowned as he threw away the rock,”honestly, I should’ve stolen my cellphone. We wouldn’t be lost, I would’ve been able to capture a few pokemon, and maybe we could’ve even gotten a few pictures of the bear…”

“Why do you want pictures of a bear? You can find them in google.”

“Because that bear was special.”

“Sure it was,” his voice dripped with sarcasm, and Bill sent him a look.

-.

“Where is Shooting Star? She would’ve noticed that we went missing, right? She’s always looking at us with that weird expression…”

“That weird expression is probably related to Billdip, isn’t it,” Pine Tree muttered under his breath, loud enough for him to hear but not loud enough for anyone else to do so. “You can’t expect Mabel to save us, Bill.”

“Why not? I thought she was the superhero of sweaters, yarn and kittens.”

“It’s not like she was some sort of weird, sixth sense to know where we are at all times.”

“Like a mom?”

“Like a mom,” Pine Tree agreed, missing the longing look on the blonde’s face,”but I’m sure she’ll search for us. Until they give up and declare us as dead, that is.”

Bill shuddered. “I’m too good-looking to die.”

“Yeah,” Pine Tree agreed before he realized what he said, and blushed furiously as Bill laughed, delighted by his boyfriend’s embarrassment.

-.

“We’re gonna die here, Pine Tree,” Bill whined loudly, dragging his feet through the forest. “We’re gonna die and nobody will know if we valiantly fought against a dragon or if we just dropped dead.”

“I’m sure we’re getting near, Bill.”

“That’s what you said like an hour ago!”

“You were the one who brought me here.”

“…fair enough.”

-.

“I’m not sure about you, Pine Tree, but I’m hungry.”

“What do you wanna eat, then? There’s nothing here.”

“Let’s eat insects, the good o’l Bear Grillz way.”

“Alright then,” Pine Tree crouched down and quickly grabbed a butterfly (which seemed like one, but Bill knew better than to discharge the suspicion that it was really a moth), shoving it in Bill’s face.

He immediately took a few steps back, his face contorted to one of disgust. “You know what, I’m not hungry anymore.”

Pine Tree chuckled,”of course you aren’t.”

-.

“Who’s gonna take care of my Tamagotchi if we _die_ here?” Bill suddenly asked, scowling at the insects, the plants, the leaves, the rocks, the dirt, the world. Except Pine Tree, who opened his mouth to talk but was interrupted by a loud noise.

“DIPPER?! BILL?!” Her voice didn’t sound that far away, and he could tell that she was concerned.

His eyes widened and he turned to look at Bill, who looked like he had just won the lottery or something. The blonde grabbed his hand and dragged him through the trees, shouting back “SHOOTING STAR!”

“BILL!”

“SHOOTING STAR!”

“BILL!”

“SHOOTING-“

“Please stop before my ears hurt,” Pine Tree interrupted their shouting, wincing at their loud volume.

“DIPPER!”

“PINE TREE!”

“DIPPER!”

“PINE TREE!”

A quick glance at both of them told him that they were definitely doing it just for shit and giggles, but he smiled when his twin pulled them both into a hug.

“Where were you?! We were worried sick! You better explain right now, young men!”

Oh boy, she looked ready to murder someone.

On second thought, maybe they should’ve kept yelling. He turned to look at Bill, who seemed to be on the same train of thought, smiling sheepishly.

-.

“We’re finally getting out of here?” Bill asked, picking up his backpack.

“Yep,” Shooting Star replied, not even looking at him in the eye. She seemed to be busy with… whatever she was doing with yarn and some flowers. Maybe she was making a tribute for the forest. Whom was he kidding; this was Shooting Star he was talking about! She probably was doing dresses for the flowers.

“And you’re giving us back our electronical devices when…?”

Shooting Star rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless, and threw a heavy box towards him.

Thankfully, Pine Tree had better reflexes and caught the box in time.

Bill instantly ripped it open, searching frantically for his own phone. He easily found it, because honestly, the bright yellow color that could very much glow at night was really, really hard to miss around the others. Except for Shooting Star’s, hers was just a beautiful sky at night with a single shooting star, and it was fluffy on the sides; she had done it herself (and she had future as an artist, he was sure). The stars always shined in the dark.

Holding it as if it were his son, he hugged his phone, which seemed to be in a good state despite the circumstances (the circumstances being the fact that Shooting Star had been the one keeping them, in a cardboard box). However, it was out of battery.

Pine Tree fished out his own phone, the cover being made by his sister as well. It was simple, made of wood but it had a blue pine tree in the middle, which glowed in the dark (courtesy of Tad, who had complained more than once that phones were difficult to find in the dark, and gave the idea to Shooting Star to use glow-in-the-dark paint).

They prepared, and soon enough, they were leaving for the Shack once again.

“Hey Pine Tree,” Bill started, casually leaning his arm around Pine Tree’s shoulders.

“What?”

“I’m hot, you’re ugly; let’s make average babies.”

“That’s not even how it’s supposed to go, Bill.”

“Do you believe in love at first sight, or do you need me to walk by again?”

“This isn’t the first time I’ve seen you.”

“Well, here I am. May I ask what your other two wishes were?”

“Oh my god.”

“Do you have 11 protons? ‘Cause you’re sodium fine!”

“Bill no.”

“Bill yes,” he wriggled his eyebrows,”I’m not a photographer, but I can picture us together.”

“Please stop.”

“Someone call heaven, 'cause I think there’s an angel missing!”

“Bill…”

“Are you WiFi? Because I think we have a connection...”

“…”

Bill was guffawing at this point, only holding in his laughter to speak. “Is your name Autumn? 'Cause I'm falling for you. I must be a car because you're driving me crazy,”he couldn’t even stop laughing. “If you were a triangle you'd be acute one. Are you a tower? Because Eiffel for you, wait, no, check this one: are you from Paris? ‘cause you're driving me in Seine!-“

“Oh my god, please stop.”

“Alright, alright. A last one.”

Pine Tree sighed, even though he was blusing. “…Okay,” he agreed, albeit reluctantly.

“If I,”he stopped momentarily to laugh, then started again,"if I flipped a coin right now, what are my chances of getting head?”

The look on Pine Tree’s face was enough to get him laughing for a while.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright, that's the chapter for now  
> thanks a lot for reading, i really appreciate it ;v;
> 
> got any other cringe-worthy pick-up lines? share them with me, i always laugh my head off with those  
> either way, have a nice day!


	25. End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> check the notes below please  
> this is an actual chapter, but just some sort of ending for now  
> the notes are important tho  
> notes. notes. notes. sounds like nose. and nuts. the nose of the nuts. notes.  
> ...notes is a weird word.

Glances both ways, makes sure nobody followed him. No one seems to be there, easier. For him. Easier for him.

He opens the door, no hesitation.

Closes it behind him, a few heads perking up at the sound.

Confused looks are given to each other, before settling on him.

A single person, wearing all pink stands up, motioning for him to come.

He does, following her to a separate room. Perfect.

He sweeps her off the floor in a single motion. Doesn’t let her enough time to make a sound. She will most likely complain, doesn’t matter.

Puts a hand in her throat. Not too tight, lets her have some oxygen. The last thing in his mind was to return home with blood in his hands, no explanation behind his actions.

Didn’t matter for now, though.

She groans either way.

Finds a way to shut her up.

Tightens his grip on her neck. Just for a few moments. Lets her know this is serious business. He lets her know that he is not here to play.

She seems to get the message immediately, in her face a pained expression.

Good, no use wasting more time.

A scowl forms in his lips, a threat urging to escape.

“Don’t.”

The word, the _intention_ itself was clear.

She quickly shakes her head, denying any plans.

No one wanted to get on the bad side of a Cipher, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okaaaaaaayy ;v;  
> this is the end, folks  
> but this isn't over yet (ain't that easy to get rid of me)  
> i already set my mind into turning this into a (*googles stuff*) tetralogy
> 
> the tetralogy is formed by four fics, here they are in chronological order  
> *Insert Coins To Play (will answer questions, like how Ford met Bill- yes, they know each other here too)  
> *Game Over, Press Start (this one)  
> *You Won the Game, Now What? (basically an epilogue, one-shot)  
> *Here’s Your Prize, See You Next Time (collection of one-shots that will be set in this AU)  
> //if you have any questions, feel free to ask!//
> 
> i... i really suck at this kind of situations, like goodbyes and shit so imma just say...
> 
> thanks
> 
> ;v;


End file.
